Complicated
by Malon Garynite
Summary: What if instead of going on a journey with Ash, Dawn went to a school where she met all the others? She goes on adventures, and somehow ends up helping to saving the world, of course. Combined earlier chapters. CS, PS, PGS, and others. T for later on blood.
1. Chapter 1

Yeah, there was not nearly enough room to summarize on there. So here's the real summary!

What I made happen instead of the Diamond and Pearl series is as simple as it's going to get. For shippings, it has Penguin, Poke, Contest, one very complicated one, attempted LeafGreen, and a little Ikari, Festival, and Pearl. It is mostly a romance, but I did add some action in the distant chapters. Rated T because of future blood, and when I say future, I mean like by the time I get to it you'll have probably forgotten I said that. I have an OC, well, I have several, but they won't show up for a while. No swearing, no adult themes, just later on blood will be shed. So, you can pretty much ignore that.

This is my first story on fanfiction! This is also my very first attempt at romance, so please keep this in mind as you review. Please PM me if you have a question, or just want to have a conversation. I apologize in advance for any grammatical or spelling errors, feel free to point them out, it helps a lot! Trust me, the story gets more interesting, so bear with me on this. Without further ado, my story. I DO NOT OWN POKEMON.

* * *

**Dawn's POV**

"Hey! Dee-Dee! Come on, you'll have to tell me eventually! It's not like you've ever been able to, like, keep secrets from me before!" huffed Ursula impatiently.

I buried my face in my knees that were pulled up to my chest, blocking out the view of the park at sunset. "Go away. Just, please, not this again," I mumbled.

"Dawn! I told you mine!" moaned the girl. True as it was, I was also the last to know. Even my _mom_ knew before me.

I was about to reply when my best friend, Kenny, saved me, "Dee-Dee, I've been looking for ya! Your mom wants you home right now. No idea why. Want me to walk you home?"

I gave him a silent thank you, uncurling myself from the bench, "Sure, that's fine," he knew me well enough to know that when I say something's fine, no is not an option.

"See ya later, Ursula!" called Kenny as we started towards my house.

To that, she just crossed her arms and her peachy colored, curly, pigtails bounced in unison.

Once we got out of earshot, Kenny said, "You need to stop hanging around her if she keeps making you so uncomfortable,

You always get me out, no need to worry!" I shrugged off.

He sighed, "Dawn, I'm not always going to be able to get you out,"

"What are you talking about?"

"I'm going to this newer school in Sandgem Town. You have to get invited, and it's super hard to get in. So, naturally, my mom freaked out and enrolled me without even asking me first,"

"You'll still be around, right? I mean, Sandgem isn't that far from Twinleaf," I demanded. Kenny is not allowed to leave.

"It's a boarding school. I'd be back for the holidays, but. . ."

We fell into a silence as I let that sink in. All you could hear was our feet slapping the pavement. We've been best friends for as long as I can remember. We're always there for each other. After spending thirteen years with him here, he can't just leave. He's not allowed.

"I'm sorry, Dee-Dee, There's I'm leaving tomorrow. I guess I just didn't want to say good-bye," he smiled sadly.

"Well, I'm just going to have to get in too,"

He bit his lip. His dark red eyebrows knitted together in worry. His hair fell around his eyes, "There's you house. I'll see ya tomorrow, Dawn,"

This was not happening. I looked back for just a moment, then I scurried to my house, and slammed the door behind me.

My mother walked over to me, "Sweetie, you need to know something,"

I just sat on the steps. All I could think about was Kenny.

"You see honey, I've been thinking about getting remarried,"

That snapped me out of my thoughts, "To Leo? Mom, he hates kids! How much do you think he'll like me? Wait, we already know he thinks I'm a useless, loudmouth, brat!" I exclaimed.

"Young lady! He's my fiance and your future father! Learn some respect!"

"See! You're acting just like him! As if it's not enough Kenny's leaving tomorrow, you have to go and get yourself engaged! Then there's Ursula, the fun never ends! No need to worry about Dawn, your loudmouth, bratty, daughter!" I was screaming, tears hot on my baking, red face. I was standing, knuckles white as I strangled the railing.

I turned sharply and stormed up the steps to my room, whamming the door shut. I then hesitantly stepped to my bed. Curled upon it and cried silently with a few ragged breaths. Eventually, I fell asleep.

* * *

Wow, now that I think about it, that's a little dramatic. Warning: this will be extremely sappy. I wrote this for a friend who lives off of sappy romance, so I thought it would be a nice warning. Please tell me what you think in a review! Or heck, if you actually enjoyed this, follow and favorite!


	2. Chapter 2

I woke up at about 7:00 a.m. First thing I did, groggily sitting up, was grab my Pokétch and send a message to Kenny, like every morning, to see if he was up. It's more of to let him know I'm up; he's almost always up before me.

I could hear my mom opening and closing cabinets downstairs, making her morning tea. Nope, not going to go down there unless I have to, I'm not gonna make an effort unless she does.

I got a message back: I'm up. Do you wanna go to the café?

I mindlessly typed: I'll meet you there

He responded: What's wrong?

I answered: No need to worry!

I got ready then headed out to the café, yelling where I was headed before shutting the door.

Once I got to the café, I could tell Kenny wasn't satisfied with my response by his facial expression, "Dee-Dee, what's wrong?"

" Don't call me that!" I scolded.

"Come on, it's not like you'll have another opportunity,"

"I don't want to shove my problems on you,"

"Best friends share their problems. Besides, I'm asking you to tell me, so it wouldn't be shoving it on me,"

"What would you two like?" the young waitress asked.

"Small Pecha berry smoothie, please," I asked.

"Large for me," Kenny requested. "

I'll be right back with you orders!" she flashed us a smile.

I let out a little breath, hoping he forgot about what we were just talking about. "

So, what's wrong?" he asked.

I gave in, "My mom's getting married. To Leo,"

"What!" he burst, "She would do that?! After she saw how he treated you?! That's just not right! What would he do to you, put you in an orphanage because he thinks you're incurably worthless?! But he's wrong, you're one of the best people I've ever known," He spat out the first bits, but the last part was a whisper, his face softening with his tone. I've never seen him this angry before. The closest to this time was when Ursula put peppers; he's allergic to them, in his sandwich in the fourth grade.

I was startled for a moment, no one had ever expressed that they cared about me this much until now. At that moment, I flung my arms around him, my long bluish hair actin curtain from reality. He squeezed me back and whispered in my ear, "I'll miss you Dee-Dee, more than anything,"

"Dee-Dee! I should've seen it! Wait until people gear about you and Kenny! You are the cutest couple!" a familiar voice giggled.

Have you ever hated someone so much, words just can't describe it? Then you'll understand how I feel about Ursula. Normally, I would've stood there all day giving her a piece of my mind. This time, she wasn't getting her wish.

"Kenny, let's go to your house." I didn't break eye contact with Kenny, refusing to let Ursula win. Without waiting for an answer, I grabbed his hand and marched off. He didn't resist.

Once we left, Kenny and I enjoyed our last day together. When it was time for him to leave, I went with him to the monorail station.

"Bye Kenny, message me soon, okay?" I confirmed as we embraced.

"Don't forget to respond. I'll always be there for you, being apart can't stop me."

"No need to worry,"

"When you say that, it's when I worry most. Dawn, I-"

"Monorail departing in one minute," the speaker warned. He broke away, seemingly flustered, "Bye, Dee-Dee!"

"Bye Kenny!"

I decided to walk home; there was no rush after all. About two blocks from my house, guess who was waiting for me. Ursula.

"Dawn, I think you'll be happy to know I'm leaving soon to go to a boarding school for the elite. I'll even see your boyfriend there. They choose coordinators and trainers to be the best, like no one ever was." Ursula piped. I kept walking, "Well, I suppose Kenny will be available. After all, his loser girlfriend has nothing on those who made it in. He is rather cute; you had your chance Dee-Dee. You'll just be written off after a day or two,"

I stopped and turned to face her, my gaze daring her to say one more word.

"You have always been and always will be a little, worthless, ugly, mistake. It's a wonder you ever had anyone," she drawled triumphantly, like somehow made her better than me.

I stood to my full height, looked her squarely in the eye, and replied, "What happened to you, Ursula? You used to be gentle, kind, and forgiving. Last time I checked, Buneary doesn't evolve into Abomisnow,"

She just stood there like a Magikarp out of water.

"Say hi to Kenny for me,"

When I finished the walk home, I was happy, like a weight was lifted. Ursula can't touch me.

As I walked to my door, I grabbed the mail and flipped through it. Mom, mom, mom, catalog, Dawn – wait, one for me? I never get mail. I looked closer at the postcard. Professor Rowan's laboratory, tomorrow, was this what I thought it was? I read through it one more time to be sure.

I know how I'm going to see Kenny again. I shoved the card in my pocket after memorizing the address. I tossed the other mail on the kitchen table then went to my room.

I had some packing to do.

I woke up at 5:00 am. I needed to leave before mom woke up. I finished my preparations and left the postcard on my bed. I grabbed my savings, and sneaked through the front door.

"Glameow?" darn it! Glameow's awake!

"Go check on mom!" I hissed.

"Meow?"

"Hurry!" I groaned.

Luckily, it listened to me and slinked away.

Wait a second, wouldn't checking on mom wake her up?

Cursing myself under my breath, I grabbed my bike and rode as fast as I could to the professor's lab.

I looked up and saw I had almost walked past the lab.

The Professor's lab was about the size of a mall, bustling with researchers and humming with machinery.

I walked up to the front desk, "Excuse me? I'm here to get my starter Pokémon,"

She looked up from her game of Flappy Starly, "Are you Dawn? Joanna's Daughter?"

"Yup!"

"Just wait one moment as I call up the professor," she smiled, picking up the intercom, "Professor Rowan, please come to the front desk to show Dawn Berlitz to her starter Pokémon. Thank you,"

In ten seconds flat, I was swarmed with assistants herding me into a room. They must be really excited for this. An old man with white hair and mustache, a stocky build, and piercing black eyes stepped in the room and all the people stepped aside.

"Welcome Dawn! Today you start your journey. In Sinnoh, you can have the water type, Piplup, the fire type, Chimchar, or the grass type, Turtwig. Choose wisely, for this Pokémon will be your companion for the rest of your life," he boomed, gesturing towards the three pokéballs.

"Piplup please!" I requested immediately.

The Professor chuckled and handed me its pokéball, "Here's your Pokédex, you can use it to record data on all the different Pokémon you may encounter, I wish you luck on your journey," he explained giving me a pink Pokédex.

"Thank you, thank you, thank you!" I squealed.

With that, I had started my journey.

"Come on, piplup! We only have five days before the dance! I want to buy a new outfit, so we have to get there early!" I moaned. Piplup seemed to have other ideas about what to do; she was refusing to come with me, "Okay, you asked for it," I picked up Piplup and squeezed her into the basket of my bike. I hopped on so Piplup couldn't abandon ship . . . again.

I was so distracted by piplup, I almost ran into this guy my age who had spikey raven hair and a yellow Pokémon on his shoulder. The thing that stopped me was that pokémon electrocuting Piplup, my bike, and me.

"EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEK!" I shrieked, piercing the air.

"PIPLUUUUUUUP!" Piplup wasn't too happy either.

"Sorry guys! pikachu, be more careful next time. I'm Ash Ketchum from the town of Pallet in the Kanto region," the boy apologized.

Still looking over myself and Piplup for injuries, I replied, "Do you always introduce yourself to girls by destroying their bikes?"

"Now that I think about it, I do. This here is my buddy pikachu,"

I began to look up irritated, about to scold him for ruining my bike, and then I saw him.

* * *

I combined chapters 2-7 because they were so short, thanks to the first reviewer, Ready To Fly!


	3. Chapter 3

I don't why, but looking at him made me forget everything I was thinking. He was cute in the way a stray Shinx was, an adorable scruffy, little, baby Shinx. His eyes were lumps of coal; they could be blazing with passion, or cold and serious. He looked a little frazzled, but he was wearing a contagious big, goofy grin.

"What's your name?" he asked, holding out a hand to help me.

It took me a moment to realize he was talking to me, "Um, what's it again? Dawn! My name is Dawn!"

"Nice to meet ya Dawn! I'm sorry about your bike. I met some of my best friends by destroying their bike. I even met the person who's half the reason I'm in Sinnoh."

"We're friends?" I asked finally taking his hand, feeling a blush rise in my cheeks at the simple gesture.

"Aren't we?" he cocked his head.

"Y-yeah! Of course!" I stuttered.

"Wow Pikachu! We have a new friend already! Where you goin' anyway?"

"Hm? Oh! Right! The academy in Sandgem!"

"You go to school there?"

"No, just visiting a good friend,"

"I'm goin' there too, how about we go together?"

A thousand thoughts ran through my head as I stared at him.

"Dawn?"

"Let's go together!" I blurted, starting to walk.

"Shouldn't we take Piplup to a Pokémon Center first?"

"Piplup? Oh, right! Pokémon Center!"

And with that, I Dawn Berlitz from Twinleaf, had met my first crush.

After we took Piplup to a Pokémon Center, we began to walk the rest of the way. While we were walking, I hang back and talked to Kenny on my cell phone, taking extra precautions so that Ash couldn't hear.

"Kenny, can I tell you a secret?"

"Sure, Dee-Dee,"

"I think I'm having my first crush,"

"Who?" he asked, his sentence sounding more like a growl than words.

"This guy I just met named Ash," I sighed dreamily.

"Who gets a crush on a guy they just met?" he grumbled.

"It's love at first sight!" I daydreamed.

"How did you meet?"

"Oh, his Pikachu accidentally attacked me and destroyed me bike,"

"Are you okay?!"

"Of course I am, no need to worry!"

"See ya, Dee-Dee,"

"Wait, before you go,"

"What?"

"What were you going to tell me at the monorail station?"

"I was hoping you forgot about that,"

"Well?"

"It's not important," he snipped.

"Come on, what's changed?"

"Bye,"

"Are you hanging up on me?!"

Silence.

"Kenny?" the line was dead.

Frustrated and confused, I put my phone back in my bag grumbling to myself. He had never done that before, what was e being so sensitive about? Unless. . .

"Who was that, Dawn?" Ash asked.

"Just Kenny. He was super touchy today,"

"I'm sure you'll find out, you two seem pretty tight,"

Oh how I wanted to hug him right now, "I can still worry,"

"Can't argue with that! I have a great friend that I worry about a lot. Probably because I miss her and haven't seen her in months. She goes to the same school as your friend, she's the gym leader of Cerulean City in Kanto,"

So there's a 'her'. Of course there's a her, she's a freaking gym leader. Ursula was right, I have nothing on those who made it in.

Wanting to change the subject, I brought up, "We should set up camp for the night,"

"Sure, I'll go get firewood!" he piped walking off.

Just then, my phone rang.

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This was chapter 8! Thanks to paul x orange juice and Ready To Fly for reviewing, it means a lot! Oh, and if you're a contest or pokeshipper, you should check out paul x orange juice's stories, they're pretty amazing. Please review!


	4. Chapter 4

I picked up my phone, "This is Dawn speaking,"

"Why on Earth would you leave like that!?" my mother shouted.

"I left the card on my bed so you could guess that I was starting a journey with Piplup," I defended.

"Are you alone?" she checked.

"No," I answered.

"Who are you with?" she demanded.

"My new friend," I replied.

"Does this person have a name?" she asked.

"His name is Ash," I rolled my eyes.

"I guess I'm just being over protective, bye, love you," she hung up.

"Bye!" I hung up. I let out a breath, thank goodness, I was half expecting her to drag me back to Twinleaf. But it was weird that Kenny was more concerned for me, and he's not the type to worry. Go figure.

Ash came back, arms loaded with wood. I'm so glad I didn't say something embarrassing like, 'You're so strong Ash!' or, 'wow, look at those muscles!' I'm very happy that I just said, "Thanks, Ash!"

"Hey Dawn, can I give you a nickname? How about. . . Dee-Dee!" he suggested.

There was something very wrong about Ash calling me Dee-Dee, I mean, when Kenny does it, it works, but when Ash did it, it sounded out of place,"No thanks, I'll stick with Dawn."

"Okay, did your friend invite you to the dance?" he asked.

"Did your friend invite you?' I asked, hoping the answer was no.

"Yup! The day they found out about it Mist told me I was going with her!" He smiled.

"Yeah, Kenny invited me too," I replied trying not to sound bitter, "I want to get to town early so I can get some shopping done,"

"But your clothes are fine," he answered confused.

"I can't wear these for a dance!" I exclaimed.

"Why not?" he asked.

"You're a boy, you wouldn't get it," I sighed.

"Well, Mist says I have to wear something nice, do you have any idea what that would be?" he requested.

"I'll help you out, no need to worry!" I assured.

"It's a deal!" he flashed an adorable smile that sent my heartbeat racing.

It's a shame he has a girlfriend.

Once we got to the city, mom called again.

"Are you going to the dance with Kenny?" she checked.

"Yup! Wait, how do you know?" I was a little surprised.

"I figured the first thing you would do is visit Kenny, so I checked the school website," she explained.

"That makes sense," I agreed.

"So, you agreed to be his date?"

"We're going as friends."

"Does he know that?"

"He should,"

"What did he think about Ash?"

"He was pretty touchy and concerned, unlike someone. He also wanted to meet Ash, which you don't seem interested in," I pointed out.

"I'll meet him soon enough. I'm coming over to Sandgem to help you shop so it doesn't get too awkward for Ash," she suggested.

"That's actually a really good idea," I admitted.

"I'll be up in an hour, love you, bye."

I explained the situation to Ash, who replied with, "Sounds like a plan!" and a cute grin.

In the hour we had before my mom arrived, I did my best to find him suitable clothes. When my mom got there, we left him somewhere and went shopping.

"So, is he your first crush?" my mom asked holding up a pair of shoes for examination.

Startled I replied, "Wh-What are you talking about, I don't have a crush on Ash."

"I never said who it was. You really can't be sure who you're first crush was, you could be in love with someone for a long time before you realize it. Did you tell Kenny?" she asked.

"Of course, I tell him everything," I shrugged.

"How did he take it?" she put the shoes down.

"He asked a lot of questions,"

"Did he seem. . . Agitated?"

That I didn't know how to respond to.

"Interesting. So, who is Ash going to the dance with?" she resumed looking for the right shoes.

"His friend," I grumbled.

"Are you sure it's not as friends?"

"No," I admitted.

She finally chose a pair of shoes for me. She bought my outfit before leaving, and told me call her if I wanted any advice.

I might want that advice pretty soon.

Three days after we arrived, it was the night of the dance. And what's worse, my hair was about to make us late. By the time I managed to get it the way I wanted it to, we were already late.

"Let's go Ash! We'll have to run to get there!" Dang, it hurt to run in heels!

"Woah, Dawn, you look great!" he called.

Trying not to blush I replied, "You too, now let's move! We're already late!"

Darn it, darn it, darn it! I didn't wanna be late! No need to worry Dawn, I calmed myself, Kenny hopefully won't mind.

We rushed through the doors and absorbed the sight of the training room turned into a ballroom with streamers and balloons everywhere. I mean, it wasn't the fanciest place, but it was still pretty orchestra was playing every thing from One Direction to Led Zeppelin, to Mozart. There were long songs, short songs, fast ones slow ones, even ones that sounded like it was in a different language.

Then I saw a sight that made my blood boil with pure fury and hatred.

Ursula was flirting with Kenny.

She noticed me coming, so she positioned herself so that he couldn't see me.

Then she did something so wrong, so unforgivable, I was fully willing to put her in the hospital.

Ursula tried to kiss Kenny.

On the lips.

I charged towards them, wrenching him out of her reach in the last possible moment.

I glared at her, pouring all my hatred into my eyes, not trusting myself to speak.

"Kenny, with me now," I commanded, dragging him into a little abandoned hall way.

Kenny looked sick, like he was about to throw up any moment. Can't blame him.

"What was Ursula doing exactly?!" I demanded facing him and letting go of his arm.

"I think she was flirting with me," he answered in a small voice looking down.

"I know that, why?!" I demanded.

"Probably to make you mad," he looked down.

"Well, she did a good job of it.' I huffed turning my back towards him.

"Why do you care if Ursala's flirting with me anyways?"

I remained silent.

"Dee-Dee, come on," he tried.

I didn't move.

He sighed, trying to hold my arm, I shook him off, "Dawn, I'm sorry. I should've stopped her," her gently used his hand to guide it so I was eye to eye with him.

I was a bit startled, he somehow looked different, even though it's only been a few days. I had memorized it after seeing it for so ling, so I guess I never really paid attention anymore. I remember when we were little, I would always make him play dress up as a prince, but it always looked a little silly. Now, in a sea blue button down and black slacks, he looked more like a prince than ever. Nothing had changed, but there was something different. A good kind of different. We were barely apart, but I wanted to close the gap.

So I did.

Then after a moment of bliss, I jumped back, "I-I gotta go," I blurted, running to anywhere.

What is wrong with me?

* * *

This was chapters 9 and 10!


	5. Chapter 5

I found myself in the girls' bathroom, splashing some water on my face, letting the cool liquid run down my face.

"Are you alright?" a girl asked making me jump. She was a brunette with round blue eyes.

"I think I'll be alright, thanks for asking! I'm Dawn," I introduced.

"I'm May!" she held out her hand to shake and I took it, "Did Kenny invite you?"

"Yeah. A guy named Ash also came with me," I answered

"Ash?! Ash Ketchum from the Town of Pallet?!" she demanded.

"Yup! How do you know him?" I asked.

"We traveled together for a while. Did he kill your bike too?" her eyes widened.

"Oh my Arceus, yes!" I exclaimed.

We laughed together for a bit.

"So, why are you here Dawn?" she checked.

"Uh, well. . ." I explained everything to her, every last bit from when I learned Kenny was leaving up til now.

"Hmm. . . if you're really trying to figure out your feelings, maybe you guys could stay here!" May suggested.

"How could we do that?" I blinked.

"You could take the entrance exam!" she suggested.

"There's an entrance exam?" I checked.

"Yeah, I need to take mine too!" she admitted.

"Then how are you here? Do you have a date in the school?" I asked.

"HE'S NOT MY DATE!" she blurted.

"Okay, can I meet him?" I sweat-dropped.

"Sure! You can meet Misty, Gary and Leaf too! Don't mention your crush on Ash around those three, whatever you do. Unless you want everyone to know, dying a painful death, or suffering a fate worse than death," she warned.

"Sounds like the introduction to Secret Love season three," I laughed.

"You're a keeper too?!" she checked.

"Are you?" I asked.

"I practically invented that term!" she exclaimed.

"I'm so glad you're a keeper too! Kenny hates it so I have no one to talk to!" I groaned.

"You two seem pretty close. Maybe you're just in denial because you don't want to ruin the friendship you've worked so hard to maintain," she guessed.

"You seem pretty familiar with the concept," I smirked.

She began to blush and frantically waved her hands, "I don't have a thing for Drew!"

"So, who's Drew? Your 'not' date?" I smirked wider.

We came back into the training room and May immediately began searching for someone, "Look! There's Misty!You should go to her, I just need to find. . ." she trailed off, then her face grew cold, "I'll be there in a moment," she hissed.

That was unexpected. Then I saw someone, who now for the second time tonight, I wish she would die alone in a pit of despair.

Ursula had really outdone herself this time.

First she flirted with Kenny, then she tried to kiss him. That would be the worst she could do, right? No, she had to kiss Ash on the cheek.

While I was fuming thinking very unpleasant thoughts toward Ursula, Misty went into action. She dragged her away by the ear, then gave her a good whack on the head with her mallet, leaving the girl on the ground. Misty then stood right next to Ash, saying nothing but still holding her mallet. She refused to move until Ash apologized and asked her to dance. She was good.

In that moment, I chose Ash over Kenny. And as far as I was concerned, it would stay that way.

Taking a deep breath I walked over to the two of them.

"Hi! I"m Dawn!" I introduced myself to the red head.

"Hi! I'm Misty, nice to meet you," she held out her hand to shake.

I took it, nervously smiling, "Kenny invited me, I came here with Ash."

"I know Kenny! He's one of my friends, come to think of it, I think he was mentioning you the other day. Yeah, his best friend is Drew who's 'rival' is May who's one of my best friends. So, where is he? He was pretty excited to see you." she asked.

"Oh, just doing. . . stuff." I tried.

Misty looked very skeptical, "Well, since he's doing 'stuff', I'll introduce you to the others." she led me to where May was yelling at this green haired guy who was just twirled a red rose in his hand before giving it her.

"So, who have you met?" Misty asked."

"Just May."

She rose an eyebrow, "Not Drew? They weren't together? That's weird." we stopped once we reached them.

"Guys, meet Dawn. She's Kenny's friend." Misty introduced.

The boy flicked his hair, "Hey, I'm Drew, a pokemon coordinator." he smirked.

"And he has a crush on Brianna!" May yelled.

"How many times do I have to tell you to get it through your head," he flicked her forehead, "I don't like Brianna."

"Until you prove you like someone else." she stuck out her tongue.

"And why would I do that?" he asked.

"Fine, I'll just bring her over then," she said.

"You won't do that," he flicked his hair.

"How do you know!" she yelled.

"Because you're obviously jealous of her," he looked at her.

"What is there to be jealous of?!" she exclaimed.

"According to you, I'm in love with her." he smirked.

"Shut up, Hayden! You'd like to think that, Mr. Rose!" she teased.

"It was your idea, not mine," he clicked his tongue.

Misty pulled me away from the two, "So, who do you want to meet next?"

* * *

This was chapters 11 and twelve!


	6. Chapter 6

I had a plan. One for my crush on Ash, that is. It involves dating Paul. The only problem is getting Paul to do it. This will be a fun struggle.

"Ummm, Paul?" I asked.

"Yes, Troublesome?" he replied monotonously.

"Can you do me a favor?" I pleaded.

"No," he answered.

"You didn't even hear what it is yet!" I put my hands on my hips.

"No," he repeated.

"Can you pretend to be my boyfriend?" I continued.

He suddenly looked slightly interested in life, "Why should I help you?"

"Because I'd be eternally grateful?" I tried.

"No."

"Please?" I used my best puppy dog eyes.

He glanced at me, he sighed, "Fine, how long?"

"You're the best!" I hugged him, "Until the entrance exams in six days."

"Let's just get this over with." he grumbled.

He had absolutely no reaction to me dating one of his main rivals. Just a smile and a, "congratulations!" In fact, the people who did have an opinion, were Misty, who was super happy and gushed over us whenever we walked by, Leaf, one of my new friends who just flat out hated Paul, and Kenny who is pretty much my brother, so it's natural he'd be over protective. I already told May, in fact she helped me come up with this plan.

The days went by fast, and I learned I would be battling a girl named Lyra form my entrance exam. I just had to beat her, and everything would be smooth sailing. Paul and I staged an excellent break up, and Misty kept doting on me and offering to do nice things to help me get over my "heart break."

Now for my exam, which was right after Ash's. He easily beat Conway, a creepy nerd who was staring at me half the time. I swear, I'm going to have nightmares.

"This is a one on one battle for entrance into the academy between Lyra using Chikorita, and Dawn using Buneary!" the judge, a guy older than us named Brock proclaimed, "Let the battle begin!"

"Buneary, Foresight!" I commanded.

"Chikorita, Tackle!" Lyra bounced.

"Grab it's leaf with your ears and throw it!" I called, panicking. We were too slow, and Buneary got thrown by the force of Chikorita's attack.

"Use pound!" Buneary gave Chikorita a solid whack on the head using her ears. Critical hit!

"Razor Leaf!" she countered.

"Ice Beam!" I bit back.

The two attacks collided, mine gaining an edge and hitting Lyra's pokemon full force. Chikorita collapsed, it's eyes swirls.

It would be simple from now here on out, my plan would go into action. And it should work perfectly.

I jumped up and down and danced with my pokemon, overjoyed about my victory.

Ash came up to congratulate me, he was reaching for a hand shake and I "accidentally out of excitement" kissed Ash Ketchum on the lips. "Flustered," I ran off, when in reality I was hiding from Misty's wrath.

I panted as I plopped down next to a tree. That worked perfectly, I smiled. I closed my eyes.

"Don't worry, it's just May, not Misty to take her revenge." May sat next to me, "I thought you were going for Kenny."

"Are you kidding? He's like my brother, that would be weird." I looked at her.

"You didn't think it was weird the first time. And I would get out of this town as fast as possible if I were you. Even if she feels sorry for you because of the break up, I'm pretty sure her feelings for Ash outweigh her feelings for you."

I smirked, "Just like if Brianna kissed Drew?"

"I DON'T LIKE GRASSHEAD!" she roared.

"You might be in denial-"

"Just like you and Kenny!" she quipped.

Well that ended our conversation.

* * *

Ash's POV

Well that was unexpected. The other times I've been randomly kissed, it was on the cheek. And every time Misty had some reaction (not including Team Rocket, I'd like to think that never happened). With Latias, well, she was like, four years older, so Mist didn't do anything too bad. When Melody did, she was _mad_. But not nearly as furious as when Ursula did it. In my opinion, she got off easy. When I first met Mist, I was yanked out of the river with a _fishing rod_, and flung on my back. Then she slapped me in the face! Where she hides that strength in those delicate arms of hers, I'll never know. And don't get me started on her mallet. Where does she even keep that thing? And did I just call Misty's arms _delicate_?! Where did that come from?!

And I must admit, I'm terrified for Dawn.

Misty stomped off to the practice fields grumbling to herself with some interesting hand motions, all with either her mallet or a fist.

"Misty," I groaned. I really didn't want her to kill someone, "You guys stay here, I'll take care of her," I told my friends, "You should stay here too, buddy, just in case," I let Leaf look after Pikachu. I couldn't risk it, not with Mist this angry.

I ran after her, finding her sitting in the bleachers. I climbed up to her, "Mist?" I asked.

She kept her back towards me, "Go away. Shouldn't you be with your new girlfriend?" she snipped, voice slightly muffled.

"She's not my girlfriend, I don't like her that way. I honestly have no idea why she'd do that." I defended.

She coldly laughed, not moving, "You wouldn't understand if someone spelled it out for you. You couldn't tell love for friendship to save your life."

"So what? Why does it matter to you if she has a crush on me?" I started to lose my temper.

"Why did you care when Rudy dedicated the match to me, was flirting, and doting on me? Or when you thought I was in the Princess Festival for the signed picture of Fiorello when I wanted the dolls? How about Danny?" she listed.

"What do you mean? Your my best friend, so I was. . . worried for you?" I couldn't tell what she was getting at. And what I was feeling at those times was more of anger than worry. But that doesn't make any sense, "Well, how about when I was in the Tower of Terror? You were about to cry!"

"You could've been dead! Do you think I'm heartless?!" she whipped around and I saw that her eyes were watery and her face was red.

"You think I don't know anything about love?!" I challenged back.

She looked down, "I know a girl who has done a lot for you, but you wouldn't give her a second glance as anything more. Just that girl."

"It might help if you told me who it was!"

"You are so blind! You idiot!" her head popped back up.

We both stood there fr a while. just looking at each other. Why couldn't she just tell me?

"How did it feel?" she whispered.

"How did what feel?" I blinked.

"When Dawn kissed you?"

"It was weird." I scrunched up my nose.

"Sorry."

Wait, was Mist apologizing? "What for?"

"For over reacting."

"Oh."

"You shouldn't have had to come after me to calm me down."

"But Mist, I came because I thought you would be mad."

"And why did you think that?"

"You had your mallet out. And you stomped away. And you typically don't like it when people, um, you know."

She smiled a little.

"What's on your mind?"

"Nothing you would understand, Ash." she walked away.

Well, that went better than I thought it would.

* * *

Formerly chapter 13.

I swear I'm not secretly a PearlShipper, PokeShipping is my OTP! A special thanks to the reviewers, and please follow their lead, even if it's just a guest review!

Have a wonderful life!

-Malon Garynite


	7. Chapter 7

Ursula's POV

I guess I have a little secret. And it's probably one that will destroy me. Being best friends means you can't fall in love with their crush. It's like, the number one rule of having friends of the same gender. Which is why being Brianna's friend right now is a major let down.

If you couldn't guess by now, I have fallen for Drew Hayden.

I'm a despicable human being.

But I have a plan. One that might ruin my friend ship with Brianna, but will save my pride.

I saw Drew walking down the hallway with Kenny and Gary.

I stopped them, "Excuse me, may I borrow Drew for a moment?"

Drew flicked his green hair, "Sure."

He followed me into a separate hallway. "Drew, I have an offer for you."

"No." he replied.

"You haven't even heard it yet!" I put my hands on my hips.

"I don't need your help." he smirked arrogantly.

"Even with May, your crush?" it was my turn to smirk.

"I'm not interested in Air Head." his smirk stopped and he tried to laugh it off.

"I'ts obvious. Now, I can help you, or you can be stuck with your insane fangirls for the rest of your life. Not to mention Brendan, who will take May right from under your nose. You need to help her realize she's in love with you before it's too late!"

"I don't need you."

"Yeah right, because the roses and flirting is going so well. She hasn't like, reacted! She's too dense to realize it, so we have to help her!"

"Why are you doing this?"

"Because I'm a good person at heart!"

He flicked his hair, "Yeah, sure. Let's pretend I did like Air Head, what is your plan?"

I smiled, I had him now, "Pretend to date another girl to see if she gets jealous!"

"No."

"Do you want Brendan to date her instead?"

"What girl?"

"Why do you think I'm here?"

"No."

"It's really the only way. You won't get another offer like this, your fanigirls all for some reason are in love with you, so you would destroy them. Besides, it's only temporarily, it's just acting. We're going to break up as soon as we get the information."

He sighed, "Fine."

Dawn's POV

"Why do you think we have to go to the battle field for an assembly?" a brunette named Leaf asked, "May? Not again, why can't you just let it be?" she groaned, noting that she was glaring at Drew and Ursula's linked hands.

"They're so. . . Clingy!" May made a face.

"They're dating," Misty corrected, rolling her eyes. The circumstances that occurred after I kissed Ash were agreed to never be spoken of. Let's just say it was a whole new level of pain.

"Well, they don't have to be so public about it!" May huffed, crossing her arms.

"Sounds like someone is jealous, maybe she wants to be in Ursula's place," Leaf smirked.

"I DO NOT!"

"No need to be mad."

"IT'S THAT CONNIVING SEVIPER -"

"Be glad it's not Brianna, or another another one of his crazed fangirls." Misty covered May's mouth with her hand, "I hate to say it May, but you're being really possessive of Drew." she put her hands on her hips, "It shows that you really do care about him no matter what you say, so don't you dare deny it. Maybe you should tell him before he's gone for good."

"Yeah, well you should follow your own advice!" May yelled.

We made our way into the bleachers, looking for our friends.

"Over here, Dee-Dee!" Kenny waved. I waved back, relieved. For a while after the incident, he had been avoiding me, and to be honest, it was miserable.

We all sat together, Misty sitting next to May to ensure no rash actions would be taken. I sat next to Leaf and Kenny, Leaf unhappily next to Gary, and Kenny next to Ash.

The principal, Professor Oak, came to the center of the arena and we all settled down.

"Students! Today we are here to announce the field trip this year. In one week, we will be going to somewhere called The Gulf of Mexico, where there are no native pokemon." he called.

Talking began.

"The groups are as follows:

"Sycamore: Ash, Barry, Brianna, Dawn, Drew, Gary, Kenny, Lyra, May, and Misty.

"Juniper: Brock, Cilan, Harley, Iris, Jannete, Leaf, Paul, Solidad, Trip, and Ursula.

"Rowan: Angie, Bianca, Brendan, Cheren, Ethan, Jimmy, Marina, Roxanne, Tracey, and Shauna.

"Birch: Calem, Conway, Janine, Jessilinda, Ritchie, Rubia, Tireno, Trevor, and Whitney.

"Elm: Bugsy, Clemont, Corey, Erika, Forrest, Korrina, N, Tommy, and Viola.

"Oak: AJ, Anabel, Burgundy, Chili, Cress, Flannery, Rosa, Rudy, Stephen, and Zoey.

"If your name was not called, you have failed to turn in your medical forms with guardian signatures. Sadly, only about 25% of you turned them in. The rest of you will have class as usual.

"This will take place next Wednesday, and we will be staying for a week. Anyone who does not make it to the bus will be left behind. You are now dismissed to go to lunch."

"Somewhere where there are no pokemon to catch? Why would we go there?" Ash asked.

"Maybe to study their lives without pokemon!" I suggested, "But what do they do?"

"I have no idea. I mean, what else is there?" May answered, putting her index finger on her chin in thought.

"Drew, we're not in the same group!" Ursula wailed.

I sweatdropped, "Looks like Ursula really likes Drew."

"It'll be okay, we still have a week," Drew smirked.

May was once again glaring daggers at them.

"Dee-Dee, looks like we're in the same group!" Kenny grinned.

"Stop calling me that!" I smiled back.

May cleared her throat, "So, Drew, I noticed that we're in the same group."

He ignored her.

She looked ready to blow up on him at any moment. Noting the danger, I grabbed her arm, "No need to worry, he'll have to pay attention eventually!" I slowly led her away, then squealed, "May, you so have a crush on Drew!"

"I don't know! Maybe I might," she poked her index fingers together, lightly blushing.

"Of course you do! No one gets like that if they don't!"

"Well, sorry my love life isn't as obvious as yours!"

"Come on, take a chance!"

"Only if you take one with me!"

"What if I mess up?"

"You kind of already have."

"Fine," we rejoined our friends before going to lunch.

"Ursula, that's my seat." May commented, holding her tray.

"Not anymore, besides, I should sit with my boyfriend." she put emphasis on the last word, smirking at how May glared back at her.

"May, you can just take my seat by Drew if you want." Kenny offered, "I can just sit by Dawn."

"Fine." she agreed.

"So, Misty and I are hosting a party on friday at 5, wanna come?" Leaf asked us all.

"Leafy, I'm flattered." Gary smirked.

"Can someone remind me why he's here?" Leaf looked around.

"Sure! Where is it?" Ash exclaimed.

"Uhhh. . ." Misty blinked, "By the gazebo behind the school!"

"Did you two seriously forget to plan where you would hold it?" Drew smirked, flicked his hair, "You guys might be more hopeless than airhead."

"DON'T CALL ME THAT!" May yelled.

Misty whipped out her mallet and Leaf smiled at him with a concerning glint in her eye.

Drew shrank back and sweatdropped, "Ha, ha, I was joking." he tried to cover up.

The three girls went back to normal.

* * *

Used to be chapters 14 and 15!

Thanks to all you lovely readers and reviewers, even if you're a guest!


	8. Chapter 8

Dawn's POV

"Why do you think we have to go to the battle field for an assembly?" a brunette named Leaf asked, "May? Not again, why can't you just let it be?" she groaned, noting that she was glaring at Drew and Ursula's linked hands.

"They're so. . . Clingy!" May made a face.

"They're dating," Misty corrected, rolling her eyes. The circumstances that occurred after I kissed Ash were agreed to never be spoken of. Let's just say it was a whole new level of pain.

"Well, they don't have to be so public about it!" May huffed, crossing her arms.

"Sounds like someone is jealous, maybe she wants to be in Ursula's place," Leaf smirked.

"I DO NOT!"

"No need to be mad."

"IT'S THAT CONNIVING SEVIPER -"

"Be glad it's not Brianna, or another another one of his crazed fangirls." Misty covered May's mouth with her hand, "I hate to say it May, but you're being really possessive of Drew." she put her hands on her hips, "It shows that you really do care about him no matter what you say, so don't you dare deny it. Maybe you should tell him before he's gone for good."

"Yeah, well you should follow your own advice!" May yelled.

We made our way into the bleachers, looking for our friends.

"Over here, Dee-Dee!" Kenny waved. I waved back, relieved. For a while after the incident, he had been avoiding me, and to be honest, it was miserable.

We all sat together, Misty sitting next to May to ensure no rash actions would be taken. I sat next to Leaf and Kenny, Leaf unhappily next to Gary, and Kenny next to Ash.

The principal, Professor Oak, came to the center of the arena and we all settled down.

"Students! Today we are here to announce the field trip this year. In one week, we will be going to somewhere called The Gulf of Mexico, where there are no native pokemon." he called.

Talking began.

"The groups are as follows:

"Sycamore: Ash, Barry, Brianna, Dawn, Drew, Gary, Kenny, Lyra, May, and Misty.

"Juniper: Brock, Cilan, Harley, Iris, Jannete, Leaf, Paul, Solidad, Trip, and Ursula.

"Rowan: Angie, Bianca, Brendan, Cheren, Ethan, Jimmy, Marina, Roxanne, Tracey, and Shauna.

"Birch: Calem, Conway, Janine, Jessilinda, Ritchie, Rubia, Tireno, Trevor, and Whitney.

"Elm: Bugsy, Clemont, Corey, Erika, Forrest, Korrina, N, Tommy, and Viola.

"Oak: AJ, Anabel, Burgundy, Chili, Cress, Flannery, Rosa, Rudy, Stephen, and Zoey.

"If your name was not called, you have failed to turn in your medical forms with guardian signatures. Sadly, only about 25% of you turned them in. The rest of you will have class as usual.

"This will take place next Wednesday, and we will be staying for a week. Anyone who does not make it to the bus will be left behind. You are now dismissed to go to lunch."

"Somewhere where there are no pokemon to catch? Why would we go there?" Ash asked.

"Maybe to study their lives without pokemon!" I suggested, "But what do they do?"

"I have no idea. I mean, what else is there?" May answered, putting her index finger on her chin in thought.

"Drew, we're not in the same group!" Ursula wailed.

I sweatdropped, "Looks like Ursula really likes Drew."

"It'll be okay, we still have a week," Drew smirked.

May was once again glaring daggers at them.

"Dee-Dee, looks like we're in the same group!" Kenny grinned.

"Stop calling me that!" I smiled back.

May cleared her throat, "So, Drew, I noticed that we're in the same group."

He ignored her.

She looked ready to blow up on him at any moment. Noting the danger, I grabbed her arm, "No need to worry, he'll have to pay attention eventually!" I slowly led her away, then squealed, "May, you so have a crush on Drew!"

"I don't know! Maybe I might," she poked her index fingers together, lightly blushing.

"Of course you do! No one gets like that if they don't!"

"Well, sorry my love life isn't as obvious as yours!"

"Come on, take a chance!"

"Only if you take one with me!"

"What if I mess up?"

"You kind of already have."

"Fine," we rejoined our friends before going to lunch.

* * *

"Ursula, that's my seat." May commented, holding her tray.

"Not anymore, besides, I should sit with my _boyfriend."_ she put emphasis on the last word, smirking at how May glared back at her.

"May, you can just take my seat by Drew if you want." Kenny offered, "I can just sit by Dawn."

"Fine." she agreed.

"So, Misty and I are hosting a party on friday at 5, wanna come?" Leaf asked us all.

"Leafy, I'm flattered." Gary smirked.

"Can someone remind me why he's here?" Leaf looked around.

"Sure! Where is it?" Ash exclaimed.

"Uhhh. . ." Misty blinked, "By the gazebo behind the school!"

"Did you two seriously forget to plan where you would hold it?" Drew smirked, flicked his hair, "You guys might be more hopeless than airhead."

"DON'T CALL ME THAT!" May yelled.

Misty whipped out her mallet and Leaf smiled at him with a concerning glint in her eye.

Drew shrank back and sweatdropped, "Ha, ha, I was joking." he tried to cover up.

The three girls went back to normal.

* * *

Hope you enjoyed the extra long chapter! Hope you all review, and I want to thank the two people who voted, it will say that there's three responses, but I voted. XD It turns out you can vote on your own polls, go figure. The decision is to put the field trip in, as you probably noticed.

Thank you so much for reading, and please review! I know this certainly isn't the best story, and it may seem kind of dumb and boring at the moment, but things will get more interesting.

Bye!

-Malon Garynite


	9. Chapter 9

Dawn's POV

I never realized how much Ursula could talk until now.

She had been rambling on about who knows what all of lunch so far. And I have next bell with her. Yay me.

So far, no one has been able to get a word in, or start a conversation with someone else because of how loud she was being.

I decided to tune in for a bit to hear, "Shut up, Maple! He can answer for himself!"

"I know, but he clearly doesn't want to!" she angrily gestured towards Drew, who looked a little angry.

"I can't imagine why, all I asked was what his family was like!" she huffed, looking away and crossing her arms.

"Well maybe he-" she was cut off by Drew holding up a hand.

"It's fine." He declared.

"GUYS, WE CAN GET FOOD NOW!" Ash jumped, "IT'S TACO TUESDAY!"

Kenny stood up, as did pretty much all of us. Well, except two people.

Apparently, Drew wanted to have a conversation with May. It must be pretty important and interesting to be keeping May from food.

I never thought such an important thing existed.

Mental note, ask May once we got to our dorm what she was talking with Drew about.

* * *

Today I learned why I should never have taken battle class as an elective. I didn't have to, being a coordinator and all, but I thought it would be fun. The only problem was how serious people got over it. Heck, people placed bets behind the teacher's back. I've heard that they had to move Ash and Paul to separate classes because of what happened when Paul, Gary, Ash, Misty, and Leaf were in this class together.

It was seriously survival of the fittest, and it honestly scared me, as did most of the students.

"Misty, who's that girl over there in that corner with a tablet out? Isn't she supposed to be training?" I asked the red head during a break. I was referring to a pretty girl with really dark, silky, straight, hair that I couldn't tell if it was black or just really dark brown, and her bangs that covered her right eye were three streaks of platinum blond, indigo, and red-violet. She was a little on the pale side and had large gold eyes, wearing a royal blue tunic with heather gray leggings going into black leather boots.

"Oh, that's Rubianna! Her friends call her Rubia. No one really knows what she does on her tablet, but she doesn't need to train. Well, more of no one will train with her," she explained.

I blinked, "Why not? She doesn't look scary or mean."

"That's what Gary said when he flirted with her. Next thing he knew, he was on the ground," Misty smiled.

I gaped, "Oh my Arceus, what did he do after that?"

"He challenged her to a battle, thinking her pokemon were weak. She beat all six of his pokemon with three of hers. And she looked like she wasn't even trying." She finished, "So, that's why no one trains with her. She's actually rather nice."

"Okay, listen up, cupcakes!" the teacher yelled, "We're going to have Gary and Leaf demonstrate a tag team battle! They'll be against Roxanne and AJ!"

We all gathered around to watch, bets being placed.

I felt a tap on my shoulder, I turned around to see Rubianna.

"Come with me for a moment," she asked, grabbing my hand and pulling me away from the crowd, "You're Dawn, a coordinator, right?"

I nodded, "How did you know?"

She smiled, "Oh, I have my ways. So, I was here to offer you some help."

I blinked, "With what?"

"Pretty much anything, but I specialize in one area," she handed me a slip of paper.

It read:

**Rubianna Vanessa Fallis**

**Matchmaker, Trainer, and Coordinator**

**PokeGear #: 555-7313**

**Personal invite only!**

"What, do you have a legion of matchmakers or something?" I asked.

"No, more of lots of records and files on just about everything in this school," she explained, "Gosh, that makes me sound like a stalker. Don't worry, all my work is perfectly legal. And I don't do personal stuff, just observations!"

I sweat-dropped, "No thanks, I'm fine."

She smirked, "That's not what I would guess from kissing two boys and dating a different one. Don't worry, no one told me, and I'm not going to blackmail you or anything. I just thought you might want to think about it. You never know when you've missed a chance."

I gaped, "How did you-"

"Don't worry about it, I just know these things. Look, I won't take it personally if you don't want help. You could just think of me as a support hotline for if you're ever going through some bad stuff," she shrugged, "Heck, I wouldn't even mind becoming your friend. You seem like a pretty cool person."

"Thanks?" I replied cautiously.

She sighed, "I freaked you out, didn't I?"

I laughed nervously, "Not at all! I'm just going to go watch the rest of that battle."

I slowly edged away, wondering what the heck is this school.

* * *

The next bell I had was also with Rubianna, who had requested that I call her Rubia. I learned that her starter pokemon was snivy and the first pokemon league she participated in was the Unova region's. She had done Kanto's and Johto's in her two years since then. She never told me if she won, or how she did.

This bell was home economics, and one of my favorite classes. I my partner was Gary, and hers was N. N was kinda antisocial, so I didn't know much about him. I've heard he's a genius at math, though.

Poor Paul was now alone because he threatened the teacher not to put him through any of the partner activities. I guess it could be uncomfortable considering you're practically pretending to live lives together.

Currently we were making poffins, and I had to admit, we were pretty terrible at it. There were already eight fires, and three cases of food poisoning. So far, only two batches have been safe. Those would be my group's, and Rubia's. Which was now just N because she seemed to have disappeared after the first fire. Strange.

This was my last bell, so after that class, I headed to my dorm for the time until dinner.

I flopped on my bed, waiting for my room mate, May, to get back from pokemon origins class.

I heard the door open and slam shut.

"I can't believe those two!" She announced.

"What did they do this time?" I replied, used to it. Those two being Brianna and Ursula, of course.

"They were arguing over Drew _straight through me_!" she fumed, plopping down on her own boring site bed wit a honey colored frame. Not the most fashionable, but they were pretty comfy.

"No need to worry, he'll break up with her eventually," I tried to help.

"What if he doesn't?" she groaned.

"First you should find out why you're so worried," I smirked.

She threw her pillow at me, "'Cause you're so much better at this!"

I saw her smiling and threw my pillow back at her, smacking her in the face, "Revenge!"

"That's not fair!" she giggled.

"You threw it first!" I began to laugh with her. Soon, it was an all out war with pillows.

When we finally settled down, I asked, "So, what was your little private talk with Drew at lunch?"

"Oh, just a birthday coming up."

The shrill bell rang for us to go to dinner.

"Come on, I'll race ya!" May challenged.

I smiled and ran after her.

* * *

"Where's Drew?!" Ursula slammed her palms on the table.

"He left for LaRousse, didn't he tell you?" May replied.

"Shut up!" she screamed.

"You're the one who asked," Leaf pointed out with a fork.

"No one cares about what you have to say, Leaf!" she moved to slap Leaf, but someone grabbed her wrist.

"Now, Ursula, it's not nice to slap people," Gary chided with a serious face, that was a warning itself, "Just sit down, and leave Leaf alone."

She backhanded him with her free hand, "Stay out of this, Gare Bear," she growled.

He stumbled back, looking shocked, a hand up to where her hand struck.

"Ursula, don't take it out on them, I'm the one who's the problem," May gritted her teeth.

We were all waiting on her. Misty had her mallet ready, Kenny was holding a pokeball, Leaf was closing her eyes, counting silently, clenching and relaxing her fist, Ash was holding Misty back, and I was ready with a spoon.

"I'll do what ever I want, Miss Ditz!" She snapped.

"Don't. Just don't. Can't you see the most plain and simple fact about Drew? Sure, you say you love him and all, but if you really did, you would know that he hates people who hurt others over tiny things. People like you. He especially hates the people who hurt those who he cares about. Which, if you couldn't tell, is _us_, the people you're hurting right now. If you really cared about him, you wouldn't hurt his friends. But you obviously don't, all you care about is you. I don't care what he's going to think or say or do when you go whining to him about me doubting you or whatever, because I don't care if you're his girlfriend. I don't care if you're the Queen of the world, you don't hurt my friends and use Drew of all people as an excuse. You aren't worth Drew if you can't see hurting the ones he's close to hurts him. And don't think he doesn't remember who's been here longer," she spoke to Ursula, staring at her with a straight face over her ramen.

She kinda gaped, then, making a little squeak, ran off sobbing.

We all turned and stared at May, who had gone back to eating her ramen, "What? It feels good to say it out loud, I've been wanting to for a while."

Gary cleared his throat, "So, Leaf-"

"I'm not going to throw my arms around you sobbing and thanking you for saving my life from Ursula," she warned.

He smirked, "I could do without the sobbing, but a hug wouldn't be too bad."

"But I will say thank you for having that priceless reaction to getting slapped by a _girl_," she smiled back.

"Hey! It hurt!" he protested.

"Yeah, your face is killing us too." She shrugged.

* * *

Was chapter 16.

Things just got interesting.

Why did Drew go to LaRousse? How did May not attack Ursula? Because this is girl world, not the animal world. But when has that rule applied to the pokemon world?

And why the heck does Rubia seem like a creeper? You might want to remember her, she's pretty important.

Tell me what you guys think, especially of Rubia, my OC.

Oh, and I'm taking suggestions for some extra little side bits.

Thanks to my lovely reviewers, no matter how few!

Feel free to guess future events!

-Malon Garynite


	10. Chapter 10

Rubia's POV

I saw the pink hired girl run past where I was sitting. Was it just me, or was she crying? Her name was Ursula Jones, and I believe she was Drew Hayden, the green haired one's, girlfriend. Not the best match. I looked over to the direction that she ran from. That table had Dawn, Misty, May, Leaf, Gary, Ash, and Kenny at it. No Drew, which was unusual. Everyone was looking at May, who was eating her ramen, and Gary had a hand to an abnormally red cheek while he was keeping an eye on Leaf, occasionally looking back at May.

I analyzed the situation, and came up with the conclusion that Ursula had begun sitting at their table recently, then when Drew left without her knowledge, she interrogated them. I'm guessing May had an answer which she didn't, which infuriated her. Leaf probably pointed something out, so she tried to slap her. Gary stopped her, but then got slapped himself. May then proceeded to say something that made Ursula run off in tears.

"Rubia? Hello, anyone in there?" Serena waved a hand in front of my face, "You've been spacing out for a while now."

"Hmm? Oh! I'm fine," I replied, "What were you guys talking about again?"

"I was just explaining to Calem that my fenniken is obviously better than his froakie," the honey-blond haired girl responded.

"Not true, water beats fire. What do you think?" He asked.

I thought for a moment, "I think Shauna's right and chespin is the best."

"See! I told you!" the girl proclaimed.

"Don't be so loud, Shauna. People are looking," Trevor advised.

"If people are looking, it's the perfect opportunity to show off my new dance moves! Right, Rubia - Hey, where did she go?" Tireno asked.

The perfect opportunity for me to slip away unnoticed. I had managed to slip away right as he said it, heading towards my best guess where Ursula would be.

"Where are you going, White?" a voice called out from close behind.

I stiffened, "N, don't call me White."

"Sorry, you just remind me of someone," he apologized, scratching his neck.

I let out a breath, "It's fine, just don't make a habit of it. What do you remember about her?"

He gave me a look that clearly stated he would rather not speak about it, and I felt some major relief.

"Sorry, it's been two years, so I-" I cut myself off. I quickly turned around to hide my widened eyes and my brief moment of terror.

"What did you just say?" he asked.

"Nothing! I was just saying it had been two years since I finished my Unova journey! That's where you're from, right? So I guessed that she was from Unova as well, and I thought that I may have met her!" it was mostly the truth.

"Sometimes I wonder about you, you seem to know an awful lot about everyone here," he commented.

"I'm just good at reading people," I laughed nervously, "Anyway, I've got to go do something."

"Alright then. I won't get in your way," he turned, "Bye, Rubianna."

"How may times do I have to tell you to call me Rubia?" I countered.

He continued to walk back to the lunch room.

I sighed, that was way too close. I can't afford distractions or obstacles. On the bright side, so far he's the only one. Well, Dawn's probably curious. But she shouldn't be a problem. N on the other hand, if I slip up like that again. . .

I turned to the hallway that had the soft crying, and spotted her.

"Ursula, are you alright?" I asked kindly.

"Go away, I don't want people to see me like this," she muttered through ragged breaths.

"I'll leave in a moment. Here, have this," I handed her a card like one I had given earlier, "Call me whenever, okay? I want to help."

She looked up with puffy eyes and a blotchy face, "If this is a trick, I will kill you," she took the slip of paper.

"Now then, I'll be on my way," I began to walk away, and tossed some tissues over my shoulder, "Things have to get worse before they can get better."

I slid back into the lunch room, searching for my table. I hurried back over and sat in my seat on the end next to Serena.

"Where have you been?!" she huffed, looking annoyed.

"Helping someone out." I replied.

"Yeah, and someone kinda seems like they're watching you. What have you been up to that we don't know about?" Calem countered.

I internally panicked, "Fine! But if I tell, it can't leave you two, okay?" I pointed at Calem and Serena.

"Hey, that's no fair!" Shauna pouted.

"Shauna," Trevor whined, "Stop yelling so much."

"Oh, don't worry, I know that Serena's going to tell you guys as soon as I leave again," I smiled.

"Wh-what are you talking about?!" Serena's ears turned pink.

I cupped a hand around her ear, "I run a secret matchmaking service so I collect information about everyone in school. N has noticed that I know a lot about people I barely know, so he's probably trying to figure out how."

"No way!" she smiled, eyes wide, "You have to tell me who I'm destined to be with!"

"Shh! Don't be so loud!" I put a hand over her mouth.

Calem raised an eyebrow, "Who you're destined to be with? What, is she a psychic who reads peoples future love lives?"

"No, more of a person who knows how peoples' minds work, then uses that to create perfect couples!" Serena clasped her hands together.

Calem shook his head in disapproval, "I expected more of you. I mean, you could have been a spy, or a criminal on the run. Or maybe even an ex-secret agent! But you had to choose a girly realistic option like being a master matchmaker."

Tireno laughed, "Like she could be any of those, she's way too nice! I bet she left to go comfort that crying girl she barely knows."

"So what if she was? It could all be fake and she's secretly plotting to save the world from our evil professors that give us too much homework! The girl could have been a contact! I bet it's all fake, the nice attitude, everything. You heard what she did to Gary! I bet she's hiding weapons in those fingerless gloves! She never takes them off, think about it, has anyone ever seen her hands?" Calem speculated.

"Nah, I just can't see it. Maybe she's part of the witness protection program! Maybe she saw her family killed by a mass murderer, and was their last target! The reason why she wears gloves is to hide the scars because she doesn't want to think about her painful past! After all, she doesn't have any pictures of her family and hasn't mentioned them. She almost never talks about her past!" Tireno decided.

"Guys, I think phantom or psychic is most likely. She just keeps disappearing." Serena sweat dropped.

"Yeah, she already disappeared again!" Shauna exclaimed.

"That's just part of her spy equipment! Just wait and see, we're not her real friends, just a cover," Calem argued.

"Guys, I just switched places with Trevor. I've been here the whole time." I sighed.

"See! She's a master at blending in and hiding in plain sight!" Calem concluded.

"Guys, seriously, she's just another student like the rest of us." Serena rolled her eyes.

"One that judo flipped the school playboy then beat him mercilessly in a pokemon battle without even trying! And he's got major skill!" Calem countered.

"She already explained that in her old school she got tired of the boys flirting with her every two seconds so she learned martial arts," Serena explained, "And don't say that's just an excuse, because we all know that it's been happening here as well. Have you seen her mailbox? It's full of letters from secret admirers."

"I'll admit, that is a rather good cover up. That could be one reason, but the _real_ reason-"

I cut him off, "Seriously, guys, I'm right here. I have to go get a drink."

I walked into the hallway, and hit my head against the wall. Rubbing my head, I groaned.

I really can't afford this.

"You shouldn't do that to yourself, you're going to get a concussion someday." A girl piped, "Then again, I do the same thing with dictionaries, so I'm not the best person to be giving advice. Especially when it comes to mental health."

I turned and saw a ginger girl with crazy, unbrushed, wavy hair, greenish eyes and creepily pale skin. Her hair reached her reached her belly button, and she was wearing a t-shirt that had a picture of a glowing blue orb with fairy wings, and the words 'Hey, Listen!' in all caps. Over it she had red suspenders, and she was wearing dark blue rolled up capris.

"Wait, Malon?" I asked, rather confused.

"Yes?" she replied.

"What are you doing here? I thought you were in a different region!" I exclaimed.

"Relax, I was just about to leave. I just needed some information on some Sinnoh legendaries, psychic abilities, and curses from mysterious forces that I don't have any clue what they are," she explained with excessive hand motions.

I sighed in relief, "Don't tell Cole I'm here, okay? Or Skylar. Or Damien, Emma, and everyone else. No one can know I'm here."

"No problem! Well, see ya!" she waved as she walked away.

I held my head in my hands, this is not my day. Next thing you know, Shauna and Serena are going to tell Flannery, and she'll tell _everyone_. Oh fate, why me?

"Why are you here this time?" N asked.

I jumped, "Can I have a warning next time? And are you following me?"

He backed up a bit, "Why would you say that?"

"Because you keep showing up! Everyone keeps. Showing. Up! Next thing you know, everyone else is going to show up at my lunch table telling them about the good old days or something like that! I am going insane?"

He arched an eyebrow, "Today is not your best day, I take it."

"How did you tell? No, don't answer that question," held up a hand.

"I think you need to rest for a little while. Take a break," he suggested, "After the fires, you need to relax."

I stiffened, "What fires? Those fires? They didn't effect me at all! Wait, oh my gosh, is it that obvious?! I'm never going to live this down."

"You kind of grabbed my arm for a while, then ran out of the room looking pale. It wasn't obvious unless you were paying attention," he explained.

I felt my face heat up, "I did that?! Oh my gosh," I started taking really fast breaths, "I'm losing it. I'm going crazy. I'm going to wake up, and this will have been a dream. Oh my gosh, what if I'm hallucinating all of this?!"

"Calm down, Rubianna, breathe," he looked kind of awkwardly uncomfortable. Okay, really awkwardly uncomfortable.

I tried taking deeper breaths, "Oh my gosh, I'm so sorry. This never happens. Oh my gosh, what if. . .?"

"Are you alright?" he asked, looking concerned.

I let out a deep breath, "I think I am now," I replied quietly, "I am so sorry that this happened. I know you're not too great with people, so I should have contained myself. I'm a bit of a mess at the moment."

"It's fine, you couldn't decide where I was. If anything, I should apologize. I brought up a more painful subject, and have admittedly been keeping an eye on you." He admitted with a tinge of embarrassment.

"Wait, you have? Why?" I furrowed my eyebrows.

"I suppose I was worried," he looked down.

"About what?" I furthered the question.

He sighed, "There have been interesting conversations that have made me concerned for you."

"What do you mean by interesting?" I continued cautiously.

"I have over heard about notes sent to you," he began.

"The love letters from secret admirers? Look, it would be nice if you were worried, but I can handle them," I put out.

"The other ones."

My eyes widened, "You know?"

He grew more serious, "Yes, I do. I feel you should know that they are serious. And one of those girls I saw with them was the one who ran out of the lunch room."

"So you thought- Everything makes sense now. Thank you so much, but do you know why they're doing this?" I realized.

He shook his head, "I think you would know better than I would. Think on it, and I'm sure you'll discover the reason."

"What the heck could I have done though?" I pondered.

"Perhaps they do not like you."

"I think that's a bit obvious."

"Good bye, Rubia," he walked away.

"Bye," I replied.

I still don't understand, at worst, they knew all my secrets, if not, maybe jealousy, or perhaps they think I get information illegally. Or maybe they just like to terrorize people. But if N said they were serious. . .

What reason did they have to make death threats to a fourteen year old girl?

* * *

Was chapter 17

So, I hope you're all confused, because this was rather confusing. Thanks to Ready to Fly and BlazekinForever for reviewing! I am so happy you like Rubia, and boy does she add plot!

I was originally going to do this from Ursula's POV, but then thought you guys needed to know more about Rubia so you're not too flabbergasted when the bomb of discovery drops.

Honestly, I had absolutely no intention of her having death threats from people, but it fit. Now I have more plot to fit in. Yay for no plot holes!

I seriously want you guys to guess in a review, unless you are one of the two people who already know.

So, take your best gander at what Rubia's hiding! Or why she's getting death threats, or how she's so comfortable with certain characters. Or anything that has to do with the plot!

Seriously, review guys, and send some guesses my way!

How much do you wanna bet most people skip my author's notes. XD


	11. Chapter 11

Drew's POV

I held the bag and the longer package a little tightly on the monorail, getting some strange looks because of the red and green wrapping. Seriously, we have three months until Christmas, and May just has to choose red so regardless of what mine was in, I looked like I was full of Christmas spirit.

Such is the curse of my fabulous hair.

Once the monorail shuddered to a halt, I was the first to get out. I held my passport at the ready for the computers at the entrance of LaRousse City, my hometown.

I got on one of the moving sidewalks, and fiddled with the package. I never could figure out why seeing my little sister made me so nervous. Maybe because I still felt like it was my fault.

I stepped off and continued walking until I was in the richer part of town. I stopped when I reached the huge high tech building with a huge glass dome for a roof, the main part being circular with two smaller rectangular sections jutting from the original. It was made of huge white slabs of stone, with a huge, oak double door at the entry. Home sweet home.

I shoved the box under my arm and shoved open the heavy door with my right hand. It didn't even creak, so I knew that Clair was definitely still as silence obsessed as ever. Clair was my aunt, she had been taking care of my sister for seven years now. She had dark green hair always kept in a tight security bun. I've only ever seen it anything less than perfect once. She had cool gray eyes that saw just about everything, and sometimes still scared the living daylights out of me. She was also very persistent on matters other than her hair and silence, and that would be my interactions with people. She very much disapproved of Gary, no matter how many times he had tried to charm her. Gary had never been to my house, but as my roommate, he had met her a few times when she came to visit me at the school. She had high standards, and so far, I'm pretty sure Kenny was the closest to being accepted by her. They all thought she was my mother. She approved Solidad readily, and hasn't yet met Air Head, but those are the two that know she's my aunt and not my mother. If she found out who my fake girlfriend was, she'd probably kill me.

Why my sister Tabitha and I were not being taken care of by our parents? Well, only one person knows the full story to tat other than me. Tabitha was too young to remember, and I had no desire to tell an eight year old that story.

Closing the door which no matter how many times I used it, it was still just as heavy, I called for my sister, "Tabitha! I'm home!"

Inside of the house, there was marble flooring and white pillars that held up the glass dome, cast over the area like a net. there were two huge sets of stairs leading to the second and third floors, which were made of ever glossy glass. The walls were pristine white, and had several pieces of advanced technology built in.

I saw the light green haired girl bound down the steps, taking two or three at a time. It's a wonder the glass never cracked. I smiled.

"Miss me?" I smirked right before she tackled me with a hug.

"Not as much as you missed me! Do you remember what today is?" she smiled.

"Would I have these if I didn't?" I held out the two gifts.

"Drew, one of these isn't from you. You don't wrap gifts in red unless it's Christmas," she told me with confusion.

I ruffled her hair, "Guess who it's from then, if you're so smart."

"It's not one of the boys. They aren't that nice, and they wouldn't remember if you told them, which you didn't. So that leaves the two girls, Solidad, and May. I haven't even met any of them, so it wouldn't make sense to begin with. Unless," she grinned like a shark, "Drewy has a girlfriend!"

"Nice try, but June is not my girlfriend," I tried very hard not to blush. I knew she knew. I don't know how she knows, but somehow, she figured it out before I did, "But I do have a fake one," she had already began talking.

"Yet. Come on, first off, you've only given two people nicknames, May, who you really just refuse to call her by her name, and me," she checked off using her fingers, "It shows that you only do that to people you really care about and are overprotective of. Not to mention possessive. You wouldn't let me have a friend who was a guy until two months ago, seriously! And don't make any excuses."

"Is this what you do in your free time? Seriously, talk about not having a life," I flicked my hair.

"Only because a dear brother of mine won't let me go on a journey!" she huffed.

"You have to wait until you're ten, Tab," I reminded her.

"You were eight too when you left! Remember? It was your eighth birthday, just like it is for me now!" she countered.

"Just open your presents already," I sighed.

She stuck out her tongue and opened the green bag then grinned, "Drewy, you do know I have a life other than skulking about how much you need to get together with May."

It was the newest system from her favorite gaming company. It was a headset of sorts called NerveGear, that practically transferred you into the virtual world. You became your avatar.

"I guess I'll just have to buy my own games," she sighed.

"I didn't want to choose one you already beat," I defended.

She rolled he eyes and unwrapped the larger gift.

Oh no. Please tell May did not just get my eight year old sister a sword.

Her eyes widened and were filled with joy, "I love your future girlfriend so much. So. Freaking. Much. I can't wait until she's my sister in law."

I face palmed to hide a blush that was coming on.

"So, you know you could have just introduced me to May and announced that you two were dating instead of buying me fancy video game systems, right?" she smirked.

"Ah, shut up."

"Come on! It's going to happen eventually!" she protested.

"Let's just go eat dinner, Clair probably made you cake," I changed the subject, beginning to walk to the kitchen.

"One of these days," she replied in a sing song voice, skipping after me.

* * *

Used to be 18

Two chapters in one day, and three chapters so far in a week! Yeah, I might even post a third today, you never know. Since I posted this too fast for anyone to review, no shout outs. But all you readers are amazingly fabulous! :D

Hope you liked yet another one of my OCs, Drewy's little sister Tabitha.

Oh, and if anyone caught the reference, tell me. It would make my day.

Review please!

Oh, and check out my reviewers' stories! I now have a joined account with RareCelebi called RareGarynite, so feel free to check that out!


	12. Chapter 12

Dawn's POV

Well, after the whole Ursula lunch table incident, she didn't sit with us the next day. Today, none of the classes were too interesting. We had another attempt on poffins, this time with more groups being successful and only two fires. We had a quiz in pokemon origins, and we did more tag team battles in battle class. For contest class, we practiced appeals, in pokemon care we learned to make our own food, in art we tried clay, and in music, we had a sight reading test.

Today was Friday, so naturally, I was getting ready for the party. Getting ready meaning finding what I wanted to wear. I decided to wear my hair in a ponytail, wear lavender skinny jeans with a loose turquoise blouse. I was wearing brown leather gladiator sandals on my feet, and I was ready to go.

"Come on, May! Let's go!" I grabbed her arm.

"I'm coming!" she almost tripped.

"May, you didn't change!" I exclaimed.

"These clothes are comfy, and sandals make me trip!" she defended.

"True, you don't want to trip in front of Grass Head again," I giggled.

"He has a girlfriend you know," she grumbled.

"I think we all know that's not going to last very long," I replied.

"I hope you're right," she muttered.

"Then you can be his girlfriend!" I smiled.

"I DO NOT LIKE HIM!" she exploded.

"No need to worry, we all know the truth," I winked.

"I SAID THAT I DON'T LIKE HIM!" she repeated.

"Speaking of Drew, is he back yet?" I asked.

"Yeah, he came back right after lunch," she calmed down.

"Interesting that you would know and not Ursula," I mused.

"HOW MANY TIMES DO I HAVE TO TELL YOU PEOPLE!" she announced.

"Until you stop lying to yourself," I informed her as we walked into the party zone.

She walked over to Drew, and I headed over to Kenny. He was acting all weird. He wasn't talking to anyone, and his smiles were all forced.

"So, what's up?" I asked.

He kinda jumped, but then said nothing.

"Okaaaaaaay, is the food good?" I tried again.

No answer.

"I see Drew's back," I continued, "I wonder why he didn't tell Ursula."

The silence was starting to get to me.

"I'm going to go get some food," I edged away uncomfortably. What was up with him? After I got some chips and salsa, I turned to see that he had left.

I huffed and put down the food, leaving to see where he went.

After a few minutes of walking through the school ground in the chilly September breeze wishing I ha a jacket on, I found him by the school.

"Kenny, what's up with you? You're acting all weird," I approached him.

"It was just too stuffy, I needed fresh air," he mumbled."

"We were outside," I pointed out.

He sighed.

"You know you can tell me anything, right?" I checked.

He had doubt written all across his face, "It's nothing."

"It's obviously not nothing to you. Best friends share their problems, right?" I continued, "No need to worry, you can trust me."

"When you say that, it's when I worry most," he replied dryly.

"Don't leave me hanging," I requested.

"You wouldn't be able to help with this problem," he responded.

"It's not like you could have done anything when my mom got engaged," I countered, beginning to get annoyed. Why won't he just tell me?

"Well, sorry I can't be just like you, because you're so perfect," he snapped.

The words stung like a slap across the face.

"There are things you just can't tell people whenever someone asks, I'm not trying to throw a pity party for myself like you," he went further, the words cutting into me.

"So all that you were talking about before you left TwinLeaf only applies to me?! I've trusted you with my problems, an when it comes down to it, you don't even trust me?!" I burst.

"Well, sorry. I really am. But this one time, you don't get to have it your way. Everyone else lets things go, and rarely gets thing to go their way as often as they do for you. Do you wanna know why?" nothing in his voice sounded apologetic.

"Fire away."

"Because they aren't nearly as self centered as you are. This may come as a surprise, but the world does not rely on you getting what you want when you want it," he spat.

He didn't say that. I know he didn't just say that. There is no way Kenny of all people would say that. I felt tears pooling in my eyes, I knew it was a matter of time until they spilled. So I ran. I couldn't care less where I was going.

I knew there was only one way that it could hurt this much, and that was that it was true. I stopped, out of breath, and slid down the brick wall, setting the emotions bottled up inside of me free.

I felt a hand on my shoulder, "Kenny definitely has a crush on you, if that makes you feel any better."

I sniffed and looked up, "Ursula? If you're here to ruin my day, Kenny already beat you to it."

She sat next to me, "I knew you were dumb, but I didn't think you were that thick. He's probably mad because you haven't noticed the obvious signs and he doesn't know what to do anymore."

"That's impossible. That would be weird." I replied.

"And me being relatively nice to you isn't?" she snorted.

She did have a good point, "How would you know anyway? It's not like you two are great friends or anything."

"It's obvious! I know something happened between you two, and if it wasn't romantic, I can't imagine what it was!" she pointed out.

"What are you, part of Rubia's legion of matchmakers?" I grumbled.

"I have absolutely no idea what you just said, but whatever it was, get over it!" she declared, standing up.

"You're in no position to talk about relationships, what's with you and Drew?"

"Like I'd tell you. It's not like we're friends now, you're still too clumsy and inadequate. Ta-ta, Dee-Dee!" she sauntered off.

_**SKIP TO THE MORNING THEY LEAVE FOR THE FIELD TRIP**_

"May! Wake up! We're not going to be able to go on the field trip if you don't GET UP!" Misty hollered into the brunette's ear.

"This is pointless. I vote we carry her in a sack to the bus," Leaf declared.

"Let's carry her," I agreed. We threw backpacks and purses onto our shoulders. I grabbed he arms, Misty grabbed her legs, and Leaf got her back.

We all grunted as we lifted her, "What is she eating?!" Leaf asked.

"Everything," Misty replied. We slowly made our way to the entrance of the school, dropping her a few times on the stairs.

We finally dumped her at the entry, all of us sitting down exhausted.

The guys came over, chortling at the fact May was still asleep.

"Are you sure you didn't know her out by dropping her so many times?" Gary smirked.

"I'd like to see you do it by yourself, if you're so strong," Leaf glared.

"Come on, a caterpie is stronger than you," he replied.

"A magikarp has a higher IQ than you do, if you even know what that is," she bit back.

"Oh please, I'm surprised that you know the intelligence of a magikarp," he rolled his eyes.

At this point, they were right up in each other's faces. Seriously, their faces weren't even half a foot apart.

"You can find some of the best couples in the strangest situations," Rubia was suddenly beside me.

I flinched, "How long have you been standing there?!"

"A while, but seriously, look at those two. Their body language just screams how they feel if they won't do it in words," she observed.

I took a closer look, "Actually, now that you mention it, they are rather close to each other."

"And we know that Gary at least likes her a lot more than he lets on. I mean, what cool Casanova would take a slap in the face for a girl who's practically impossible to get?" she continued.

"How do you know about that?" I asked, feeling very suspicious.

"I know things, and practically no one would understand how," she shook her head, "Anyway, how are you?"

"Good, and you?"

"Same as always!" she smiled, "I heard about the party last night and what happened," her smile faded, "Are you okay?"

I looked down, "Oh, I'm fine. Who-"

"Don't worry, I'm the only one who knows, yet again. Sorry for bringing it up, I feel like I've made an. . . Interesting impression on you," she apologized, looking sheepish.

"Heh heh, yeah," I didn't really know what to say. She seemed nice, but there was still the slightly creepy element of her just knowing things.

"Rubia! Where are ya?" Tireno called.

"Well, bye!" she called, heading over to her friends.

I turned back to my friends, who were still trying to wake up May.

Drew sighed and knelt down by her, and whispered something in her ear. Her eyes slowly opened.

She stretched, "Good morning!" she yawned.

"How did you do that?!" I gaped.

He smirked, flicking his hair, "When you know Air Head as well as I do, you learn some tricks."

"So, how many times have you had to wake her up?" Misty asked, hands on her hips.

Ignoring the red head, he continued, "Where's your bag?"

"Uhhh, guys, what did you do with my bags?" she turned to us.

The girls and I sweat dropped, "We forgot them upstairs," Leaf replied.

"Wow, thanks," she replied sarcastically.

"I'll go with you to get them in case you fall asleep again," Drew flicked his hair.

She blinked, "Okay."

Once they left, something occurred to me, "What happened to Ursula? Usually she'd be clinging to Drew by now."

Everyone looked blankly at me, "No wonder I was an unusual lack of screeching!" Ash concluded.

"Good riddance," Leaf nodded.

"Guys, it's not like she's dead or anything," Misty sweat-dropped.

"We can dream," Kenny replied.

Kenny, yeah, we haven't talked since that stuff happened.

"Where is my Drew?!" a voice screeched.

"Way to go, Dawn, you jinxed it," Gary mock congratulated.

The peach haired girl stomped over, "Well?!"

"He's upstairs getting-" Ash was cut off by Misty putting a hand over his mouth.

"Some bags they forgot," Leaf finished.

"Don't blame us! You forgot too!" I protested.

"Okay, bags we forgot," she gave in.

"So where's Miss Ditz?" she pressed.

"I'm sorry, I don't know anyone named 'Miss Ditz'," Leaf replied with a sickly smile and a menacing tone.

"Don't push your luck. Do you want to get slapped, or will you just hide behind your boyfriend again?" she sneered with a smirk.

The brunette narrowed her eyes, "Excuse me, but I'm not a coward or a user like you. My relationships have meaning, and he is far from my boyfriend. So basically, you can do whatever the heck you want to him."

"Aw, come on!" Gary threw up his hands.

"Like you've been in a relationship before," she rolled her eyes, placing her hands on her hips, "In fact I'd be surprised if you ever got one. Sorry about the misunderstanding, I forgot you're to miserable and pesky for him."

Leaf looked like she was about to explode, but Gary grabbed her wrist, "I think I can choose that for myself, thank you," he responded coolly.

The brunette shook his hand off, "I do not need you to restrain me, Oak."

"I meant it more as an invitation," he shrugged.

* * *

May's POV

As we were going back, Drew did something very unDrewlike for him.

He gave me a hug.

"Uhh, Drew? What on earth are you doing?" I asked nervously.

"That's from Tabitha. She was going to tie me to my house if I didn't promise her. I didn't help that you bought her a sword," he quickly stepped away.

"Why would she do that?" I cocked my head, very confused.

He looked like a deer caught in headlights, "Never mind."

We got back in the entry and spotted Ursula confronting Leaf with Gary lingering somewhere between spectator, and participant.

Drew cursed under his breath and mumbled something before heading over, "Don't come until she's calmed down." He ordered.

"Okay," I called back, "Oops, I hope that wasn't too loud."

I kept watching. Right before he arrived at the scene, someone else stepped in. She was wearing blue striped black fingerless gloves, and had dark hair. She stepped over, said a few things, which seemed to calm everyone down a bit. Ursula and Leaf were still glaring at each other, but no more word were said. Drew just watched this, seemingly impressed, which was impressive. I came over, now that things had resolved.

"So, who's ready for a field trip?" I smiled.

* * *

Was 19

Thanks to jeannot1978, even though that wasn't the reference, glad you like my OC! Yeah, just wait for when things pick up.

Congratulations, Eeveemaster7, you got the Sword Art Online reference! I wish I had a CrunchyRoll account so bad right now. Were you saying that you love the story, or the reference? XD One question: should I make Tabitha be a beta tester for SAO?

BlazekinForever, I myself am slightly confused with that chapter, and I know exactly how it could make sense. But all shall become clear on Christmas Eve! In the story, not in real life. On Christmas Eve in this story, oh goodness, you better brace yourselves, readers. Things get pretty insane and complicated. I am also happy that you like Tabitha, because otherwise all of you would just have to get over it.

Thanks so much for reading and reviewing! Please continue your appreciated work!

Oh, Christmas Eve.


	13. Chapter 13

Dawn's POV

Well, that just happened. Rubia just came over here, and stopped a war from happening.

How on earth did that work out? I mean, she knew exactly what to say, and she barely knows them. Is she psychic or something?

"Students! It's time to get on the buses! Keep your luggage with you at all times! There will not be any coming back, and two people to a seat." Professor Rowan commanded.

All fifty students, five supervisors, and ten helpers loaded onto the buses. I looked around to see where I should sit. Ursula was unwillingly dragged away by Brianna, so May was sitting with Drew, Misty was sitting with Leaf(they explained that it might be good for them to not lose their temper every five seconds with Ash and Gary), someone named Brock was sitting with Kenny, and some girl named Serena had taken Ash.

I looked further, at this point just looking for someone who I could talk to(cough, cough, not Paul because he's a constant downer or Conway because he creeps me out way too much).

Rubia was sitting with N(who knew they were friends?), so that even ruled out that possibility.

That left me one choice.

"Hey, Gary, could I sit with you?" I asked awkwardly.

"Sure," he replied, putting in some headphones.

"Thanks," I replied, slightly ticked off, sitting down.

The bus started up, shuddering and coughing up gas. A few stragglers were tossed a bit, holding onto seats for dear life when we took a sharp turn. Which we ended up taking a lot of.

Gary just hummed and leaned slightly in different directions as I clung to the seat, occasionally screaming.

Ash had stood up on his seat, laughing at how people were freaking out, until he fell onto the person in front of him's lap.

"Get off me, Ketchum!" Misty yelled, whacking him with her mallet of malice.

"Stop hitting me, Mist!" he covered his head.

"TWO TO A SEAT!" Rowan bellowed.

Ash scrambled back over to his seat, that Serena girl checking his head to see if he got any serious damage from the red head.

There were quite a few people puking into each other's bags, and screaming all around. Gary didn't do a thing except hum with his eyes closed, dodging the occasional flip flop.

"WHAT THE HECK?! HOW DID THEY GET IN HERE?!" someone screamed, pointing at a hologram.

"Calm down, it's just a hologram," someone chided.

The person was a lady who was in her late thirties wearing a pencil skirt and a blazer with a no nonsense hair bun.

"Professor Rowan," she began.

"Yes?" he replied.

"I will need to take Drew Cornelius Hayden at the hotel. I will have him back there by the end of the day," she informed.

Rowan nodded.

Everyone stopped screaming and turned to the green haired boy.

He sunk lower into his seat as we took a sharp turn, and the pandemonium restarted.

**_TWELVE HOURS LATER_**

"We have arrived at our hotel. Wait in the lobby for further instruction." Professor Juniper announced to a bus full of tired, sick, and very dizzy people.

We all trudged to the lobby, dragging our bags behind us, and collapsing on the plush red carpet in the entry.

The same hologram woman grabbed Drew's limp form, and began to drag him with a fierce face that prevented anyone from questioning or stopping her.

"Alright, alright, I'm coming!" he complained, trying to get out of her grasp.

"There is no time for your foolishness, young man," she snapped.

"Geez, is it really that foolish to want to be able to control my own body?" he asked.

"There is no time for such a trivial matter. Do you know what you have done?" she demanded.

"What are you talking about?" he inquired.

She marched out the door, leaving us all mystified.

". . . Does anyone know what just happened?" May broke the silence.

Crickets chirped.

"I'll take that as a no," she responded.

Professor Oak cleared his throat, "Ahem, students, you will be rooming with four people of the same gender of your choice. Send one person from your group to get a room key. If you are too loud, you will get one warning before you are sent home. You are dismissed."

May, Misty, Leaf, and I all got together and sent Leaf to go get the key. The lobby was buzzing with hums of excitement, and the occasional snore from those who fell asleep. We then funneled into the elevators four at a time, or in some cases three.

I began to wonder how much sleep I would actually get with these three.

_**THE NEXT MORNING**_

I woke up to High School Musical.

Wait, High School Musical?!

"Did you guys start without me?!" I bolted up.

They all laughed nervously, "Sorry about that-"

"There is no exception for watching High School Musical without me!" I cut May off.

"Calm down, we woke you up, but you fell back asleep," Leaf explained.

"We can start over once we get ready for breakfast and eat," Misty offered.

"Fine, but I get the bathroom first," I gave in.

**_YET ANOTHER TIME SKIP, AFTER BREAKFAST DURING FREE TIME ON THE BEACH_**

At this point, this felt a lot more like a vacation. I was seriously thinking that the Professors just needed a vacation so they disguised it as a field trip.

Everyone was in the water except May, Drew, Ursula, and me. Well, there were other people, but not ones I was really paying attention to.

Drew and Ursula were grossing everyone out by flirting, and May was watching them with her blazekin out. If I were Ursula, I'd be scared.

May had her jaw clenched, as well as her fist, it looked kinda weird with the bright sin on the cloudless cerulean sky, and the white sand disturbed by the crashing blue waves. I half expected her to have a personal storm cloud above her.

I closed my eyes and tried to relax some, but was quickly interrupted by a scream. I jolted up, ad saw Harley the cacturne guy running around in the water with his head on fire.

What the heck?!

I turned to see May trying not to smile, and Ursula and Drew with suddenly more space between them.

Did she just set someone on _fire_ to stop those two?

Good luck convincing us you aren't in love with him, May.

* * *

Used to be 20

Thanks to Eeveemaster7, I may throw some SAO into this. You'll have to wait and see. ;)

Thanks to BlazekinForever, who is enthusiastic and optimistic about future events. It almost makes me feel bad.

Please review, and thanks for reading!


	14. Chapter 14

Dawn's POV

Well, the rest of the trip sadly was educational. Mainly learning about cultures not influenced by pokemon. Pretty interesting, but it wasn't as shocking about certain events.

Well, first off, May got detention for being suspected for setting Harley on fire. Second off, Rubia, who up until now had only confronted Gary and otherwise had been pretty nice to everyone, had detention for slapping Calem in the face. It wasn't just a slap like Ursula's was, no, her nails caught on his skin, leaving what looked like shallow claw marks.

Not a single person ever suspected that to happen. But no one was more surprised that Calem. After all, he was one of her best friends. She really is a mystery, I wonder if anyone will ever understand her. And what's more, no one knows why it happened.

The teachers had asked for both sides of the story, but both of them refused to say anything. Really weird. I don't understand what's going on with this place much anymore. Drew disappears more frequently, and some days, Ursula and Brianna do as well. Nothing makes sense anymore!

Well, on the bright side of things, Kenny and I are talking again. Thank Arceus. I never realized how much I relied on our relationship.

For the while we weren't talking, I had started talking more with Rubia. She never blew up or slapped me(thank goodness), and we had actually started making pairings together. i secretly shipped her with someone, but I wasn't so sure how it would turn out if I told her. I was a little wary of her before, but now that I know she lost it on one of her best friends. . . I was kinda concerned.

Speaking of which, I haven't had to bravery to ask her about that yet. Everyone wants to know, and she knows it. She was kind of left alone after the whole Gary thing, but even then I heard she wasn't really left alone. Some people said that half of the ten letters per day were hate mail, but the only ones we had ever heard about were the love letters because she hid the others too well. Another rumor was that Calem had tried to mI ake a move on her. I don't know if she knows about them or not, she's never mentioned them.

But then again, when has she ever mentioned anything related to herself?

* * *

Ursula's POV

I was walking through the hallway exactly a week before Halloween on a Thursday. Today, both Drew and May were gone. Suspicious.

Everyone held their breath, waiting to see my reaction.

"Can you say that again, Brianna?" a bubble of anger rose from my stomach.

"I said it's fake Drew doesn't care about you, it's all an act so he can get May," she repeated confidently, her once shy sweet voice replaced with sheer fury and hatred.

I wanted to believe to believe to she was wrong, but I couldn't. I knew it was fake, I knew it was true. I began realizing how little I could do on my own and how I relied on people to back me up. But now that what seemed like my only real friend had turned on me, no one was going to help me.

"Stop lying to yourself. If he cared, wouldn't you know about his family? That's right, May's the only one who really knows about them," she sneered.

I kept walking, trying to keep my cool. I had something I could pull on her, but not here on school grounds, much less in the main hallway with everyone watching.

"I'll give you one last chance, tell me why he's leaves at least once every week, and why now May's disappeared as well. Then I'll believe you," she smiled with the look of a predator who had their kill cornered.

And she was right. I couldn't think of any quick lies, not this time. They all sounded pathetic, so why even bother? They would just make things worse for me.

"Leave her alone, Brianna," someone stood by me, and when I saw their long, dark blue hair, I couldn't believe it.

"Dee-Dee?" I whispered.

"You're just jealous she got your precious grass head, buzz off," Misty whipped out her mallet, "You seemed pretty sweet, so I would normally have an issue with ganging up on you with my mallet. But now that I see the real you, I have no problem."

Now Misty from Malice land was helping me. I had done just about everything to get Dee-Dee and her friends to loathe me, was all that work for nothing?!

"Why are you helping her?! She's fake!" Brianna screeched.

"Just shut up. If this is how you treat your friends, I shudder to think what a relationship would be like for an unfortunate boy," Leaf retorted.

What had I done to deserve this? The bubble of anger had evolved into a torrent of fury, "Stop it! I don't want your help!" I blurted.

Then I ran.

What had I done?

* * *

May's POV

I was kind of freaking out. I mean, no one had like, met Tabitha out of Drew's friends. Drew looked like he might be regretting doing this, but who cares? It can't be that bad.

Once I saw the place, I seriously wondered how two people could ever live here on their own. I mean, it was so big!

He stopped at the huge door, "Ladies first," he smirked.

"Thank you, kind sir," I responded with a smile.

With great effort, I pushed the door open.

"Tabitha! I brought someone for you to meet!" Drew called.

"It better be your future girlfriend if she isn't already your girlfriend!" a voice replied back.

A light greened haired girl with dark gray eyes slid down the rail and landed on her feet.

"Really? Showing off so early? You don't even know who it is," Drew smirked.

"Oh, that's what you think, is it?" she returned the smirk. Must run in the family, "Sapphire eyes that sparkle when she's excited or happy, check. Brown hair in adorable flaps at her ears tied back with what used to be a red bandanna that you practically celebrated when she changed to using a green one, check-"

Drew's ears turned a little pink, "Get on with it already."

She rolled her eyes, "Just repeating what you're secretly thinking about May, Drew."

"I am-" he began to protest.

She turned to me, "Onto more important matters, are you single?"

"What?" I blinked.

She sighed, "Dense as he says, I see. If the answer is yes, are they fake? Oh, thanks for the sword, by the way. It makes everything easier."

"No problem! Oh, and the answer to both is no," I replied, "Wait, he talks about me?"

"Oh boy does he talk about you! I mean, you'd think you were-"

"Tab, this is not the time," Drew gritted his teeth, "Remember, I'm still your older brother."

"And what are you going to do? Take away my NerveGear?" she glared.

He visibly tensed, "I'm going to go talk to Clair for a moment, you two can go do whatever."

What was that about?

* * *

Formerly 21

Eeveemaster7, I'm looking forward to your response in particular. Please guess what's going on, you might have the best shot.

Ready to Fly, the twist, oh the twists I'm adding to the original story I wrote. ;) Just wait until you learn about those five girls. Just you wait.

Eeveemaster7 and Ready to Fly, thanks for reviewing!

Thanks to everyone who's read up to here, you've gotten me over 2,000 views! I expected to get one per chapter at most, and I can't believe people actually are interested in my writing.

Please review! Which, oh my Farore, Din, Nayru, and Hylia I have 44 of! I'm hoping to get to fifty by chapter 25!

Goodbye, you wonderful people.


	15. Chapter 15

Dawn's POV At the School Halloween Dance

It turns out I was the only one not told that it's a sort of dance where people have dates. So I was currently just sitting alone while my friends forced each other to dance. May was actually happy, considering Ursula and Drew broke up yesterday. She was talking to Drew, Misty was talking to Ash, Ursula and Brianna weren't there, Paul was skulking in the corner, not even in costume, I had no idea where Kenny ran off to, and I was currently searching for Rubia. I think I saw her with Serena, Calem, Shauna, Trevor and Tireno as usual, but I'm not sure.

Leaf and Gary, you ask?

They were making a scene about who knows what. Who knows what probably being Gary being a playboy.

"Try and stop me," Gary challenged.

"Stop you from being an idiot? Sorry, that's not possible," she sneered.

"For you, that is," he teased.

"I could take you down blindfolded," she gritted her teeth.

He ran a hand through his hair, leaning in closer, "Well that's interesting, I thought you were already fighting blind."

"From the sight of you," she glared.

"You haven't looked in the mirror lately, have you?" he asked.

"I'm surprised you can comprehend what one is, after all, even you don't want to see that," she replied.

"Wow, those were some pretty big words you used right there," he mocked.

"It's no surprise you don't have a date," she grumbled.

"Let's fix that shall we?" he came in even closer.

"What the-" she was swiftly cut off.

"OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" practically the entire school narrated.

"I thought so," Rubia appeared next to me.

I jumped a bit, "You'd think I'd be used to you randomly showing up wherever there are couples by now."

"It's fine, it's a bad habit anyway," she shook her head, "Where else would I be? I mean, the best parts always surround the couples."

"I get the feeling that the 'best parts,' aren't always the best for the couple," I sweat dropped, "What are we to you, a soap opera?"

"Spoilers," she smiled.

"Any more surprises?" I asked.

"What am I, a seer? Well, there may be another, I'm not sure yet," she bit her lip, "And honestly, I really hope it doesn't happen. There's one surprise that's already happened, but you won't know until later, one that's about to happen that will change the future," she replied like she was talking about a boring class assignment.

"How do you do it?" I smiled.

"Spoilers," she leaned back.

"So, do you like anyone?" I wheedled.

She seemed unaffected, "Where would you get that idea?"

"I don't know, your obsession with other people's love lives?" I responded.

"That might mean that I don't have one or an imaginary one to deal with, any other reason?" she pointed out.

"Might! Come on, everyone has someone," I tried.

Her eyes grew a little cold and her smile was far off, "Not everyone, Dawn. And certainly not all the time. I'll make a deal with you," she came back to now, "If you can give me a good reason why one might think I have a crush or something like that, I'll show you a secret."

"Really?" I was stunned.

She laughed, "If you can give me a defense I can't shoot down without lying."

"Oh come on, just tell me if you have a crush!" I pleaded.

"Why?" she persisted.

"Because I want you to get together with someone!" I admitted.

"Who?" she looked straight at me with seriousness that slightly scared me.

"Well, he has long green-"

She cut me off, "Don't you dare."

"You don't even know who it is!" I replied.

"Do you think I don't know who you're thinking as a pair?" she questioned.

"Oh, come on!" I threw my hands up in the air.

"Just go over there!" she advised.

"You're talking in rhyme," I noticed.

"I don't care!" she groaned.

"You wouldn't be so desperate for me to stop unless you were hiding something!" I protested.

"I haven't really been trying to hide that fact! We all know I'm hiding things, heck, you could tell if you were a pear!" she added.

"You're still rhyming!" I smiled.

"I'm getting a new chair!" she got up.

At that point, she was trying too hard for her to not know that she was rhyming.

* * *

Was 22

A lot shorter than normal, sorry! But I really do want some people who have suggestions for little side stories. That, or I'm going to skip straight to December.

Trust me, I don't think you want that.

But then again, I can't wait. ;)

Eeveemaster7, I actually really like those ideas, and I mainly asked because I wasn't sure if I wanted to do the idea I had. I told a friend who had read this whole story as I was writing it, and he said I wasn't allowed to do that. XD I guess it was a little cruel.

BlazekinForever, I don't mind that they were late at all! You reviewed, and that makes a difference! Tabitha, wow. I feel bad. More of because originally she wasn't very developed, and now she'll get more development.

I appreciate all reviews, and to be honest, I look forward to them, as sad as that might sound. I really appreciate it when I get feedback,nd especially when people share ideas or predictions! You guys are all absolutely amazing!

Bye, Ponds!


	16. Chapter 16

Rubia's POV

Everyone likes someone, huh?

That's probably true. After all, you can fall in love without realizing it. Or get crushes without noticing.

Cough cough, Dawn and all of her friends.

Me? Yeah, now you want to know.

Not going to happen. No matter what you try, I won't tell you.

Because I can't.

Spoilers, after all.

I might tell you if you knew.

Scratch that, I definitely wouldn't. At this point, I suspect that person has no idea. Or any of you, for that matter. I mean, it's pretty complicated.

You think it can't possibly be that complicated? Is that a challenge, bait, or both?

I'm not falling for it. You heard me, I have absolutely no intention of ever letting you know.

Well, if Dawn succeeds, which some of you are probably hoping will unmask my past, she'll find out something that will confuse all of you even more.

I suppose I could give you tiny pieces of information, see if you can guess.

Then again, I don't want to do that to either of us. Talk about awkward moments.

Oh look, I'm writing another one of these weird letters to no one in my head. I'd like to imagine I'm actually going to mail these one day.

But we all know that can't happen. There's no way I could mail this to anyone from my old life, and no one in my new life would care.

I think I'm okay with that.

Scratch that, was okay with that.

Until I came here. I never imagined I'd see them again after what happened. More specifically, him.

I was dealing with steadily erasing, forgetting, and putting my old life behind me, and I thought this school would help me.

How I was wrong. Well, it would have. It came so, so close. One student less and I could have done it. That one dang person who has managed to be part of my old life and my new life. Heck, they're the reason I had to change.

I don't regret it. And don't you dare ever blame them.

And I refuse to believe that person is that to me.

Well, at least, not yet.

Because if everyone has a person who they like, I could do without having an even more complicated life. Honestly, it has a chance of getting me killed.

And no, I'm not referring to the notes.

Those too, actually. That means I have at least three groups of people who are out for my blood.

Oh boy.

"Rubia?" Serena tugged my ear, "You've been zoning out a lot more lately."

"It's nothing, just a little tired," I smiled.

"Or," she grinned wickedly.

"Don't you start that again," I glared.

"Come on! We all know!" she protested.

"No, you don't, no one does! And I plan on keeping it that way," I grumbled.

"So you're never going to tell him? Or maybe it's a girl and that's why you can't tell us!" she concluded.

"Serena, no. Seriously, if I would even consider telling you something like that, you would have to admit it. Besides, I'm not that kind of girl, it may take a few years," I added.

"Yeah right," she rolled her eyes, "You could at least tell me why you slapped Calem."

"Why don't you just ask him?" I suggested.

"Because he won't tell me and he wouldn't know why." She responded.

"How would he not know?" I questioned.

"Because guys are insensitive jerks," she shrugged.

I smiled, "And yet they always get the girls in the end, no matter how obnoxious."

"Sound like you're reflecting on some soap opera," she commented.

"Serena! You can't hide forever!" Shauna called.

I raised and eyebrow and she slumped forward groaning, "Shauna's trying to get me and Calem to dance together."

"Calem and I, you mean," I automatically corrected.

"I'm kinda stressed at the moment, so grammar isn't my top priority," she rubbed her temples.

"Why don't you give it a try? You never know, you could learn things you never knew through it," I smiled at her.

"Don't you dare," she glared.

"How do you know I wasn't talking about getting the information about why I slapped him?" my smile turned to a smirk, "If you don't think of him that way your thoughts really shouldn't dwell that often on that."

"If I give it a try, you have to," she stubbornly refused.

I paled, "I don't dance."

"If I dance with Calem. . . Okay, I'll choose someone you know well enough, most likely isn't one of your creepy fanboys, and not part of our circle of friends," the pondered on it.

I internally panicked. I can't do this. I can't. It doesn't work. But if I do. . . It's for them. I can do this for them. Dancing was nothing compared to everything else I've done for people, and these were two of my best friends, so I can get over myself and do this for them. Right?

"How about-"

I stopped her, "I'll give you three tries to find me an acceptable partner. That, or I'm dancing with Calem for you, explaining the situation as I see it."

She whistled, "Harsh. Okay, try one-"

"Oh, and they can't be anyone I ship someone with," I added.

"You ship everyone!" she replied.

"No, there are some people here who don't have a match," I corrected.

"And those are probably the creepers," she rolled her eyes.

"There are a few people," I tried.

"That you know and are male?" she pressed.

"All I ask is that they are not part of our group, as you put it, a fanboy, or someone I ship," I explained.

"Fine, but how should I know who you ship?" she asked.

"You see at least some of these, or at least I hope you see them," I helped.

"So, how about. . . Chili? Forget I ever said that. Cress?" she tried again.

"Nope," I didn't even have to think about it.

"Okay, how about. . . who's that one guy you're partners with? The guy that Calem thought was watching you, but wasn't a creep? I think his name was M?" she tried.

I paled, and then I felt my ears light up. Thank goodness for fake elf ears that are part of my costume, "His name is N, Serena."

"Yeah! That one! What about him?" she asked.

I bit my lip, I only made that deal because there were only at most ten people who fit that description.

And there was only one who I have really interacted with and would consider a friend.

And somehow she managed to guess it.

I didn't think I would get stuck in this.

"So, is that a yes?" she hoped.

"You really want him to dance with you or no one at all, don't you?" I stood up, ready to regret my decisions.

"You're going to dance?!" she looked at me in shock, gaping.

"When you look at me like that, I feel like it's an even worse idea than I imagined," I turned, scanning the room.

"Hold up, let me get this straight, you're going to dance with N?" she checked.

I sighed and took a deep breath to collect myself, "At this rate, you're going to get me to back down."

"No, don't back down!" she begged, "I'm just surprised."

"I am too, now go find Calem," I still couldn't find him, my pulse was quickening and my blood felt like magma, hot and slow. My palms were sweating. I kept remembering last time I had danced, and wanting to disappear.

No, my dancing really isn't that bad. It's just the memories associated with dancing.

Well, it was now or never.

* * *

Used to be 23

Sorry to leave it there! Well, not really. But, whatever!

Thanks for the suggestions, BlazekinForever! I was so excited and happy when I saw the long review. XD

Eeveemaster7, I think I may combine our ideas!

The fiftieth reviewer gets a cameo appearance! Just give an OC description, and I'll put you in! And they'll also get a one shot for a couple of their choice, so long as I support it! It does not have to be pokemon, it can be any of the ones on my profile!

THANKS FOR READING!

Oh, and there's Lanfan x Ling as well as Al x Mei, for you FMA:B watchers. If there are any. If you don't know what one is, just ask. :D


	17. Chapter 17

Rubia's POV

There was one major flaw in my plan. I had no idea where N was. It certainly made dancing with someone harder if you can't even find them. I sighed, and went into the hallway for some room to breath after weaving around people so much. I sat down in my long blue chiffon dress and put my head in my hands. How hard could it be to find one person? It's not even like he blends in, certainly not with him being tall and the long green hair. Where is he? Did he even come? I'm pretty sure it wasn't an option to skip this, but there are people who would ignore that.

"Why are you out here?" a voice asked.

"I'm beginning to wonder if you always just wait in the hallways for something or someone to get your attention," I perked up.

"I do always seem to be out here when you are," N slightly smiled, "Why aren't you in there, Rubianna?"

I stood up, "I told you to call me Rubia, it sounds too formal when you say it."

"Are you going to answer the question?" he checked.

"I was looking for you," I admitted, "I kind of made a deal with Serena that if she could find someone matching specific criteria that I would dance with them. She made a deal that she would only dance with Calem if I danced with someone. So, you fit it. If you don't want to, that's fine."

He looked at me strangely, "So your friend was counting on you not to dance regardless."

"Yup!" I replied in a an awkwardly high voice.

"What makes me someone acceptable to dance with?" he went further.

At this point, I knew I was at least a little pink, "You fit the criteria. Someone who I haven't paired with a girl yet, not a creeper, and not someone that hangs out with the rest of them. Well, there was another one, but that one wasn't necessary."

"That was?" he pressed.

"Someone I at least know," I explained, "Congratulations, you won a fabulous prize that some with a receipt."

"You are aware I don't exactly dance?" he raised an eyebrow.

"Yes, but I'd rather it be you who can't dance than some random person who could," I admitted.

"Anything else I should know?" he checked.

Crap, I didn't want to, but I had to, "It kind of has to be a slow song, she'll probably only dance at the same time as me so she knows I'm not watching."

"So you want me to slow dance with you so that your friends will?" he laid out.

Is it just me, or is October unusually warm? "Pretty much," I whispered. I was looking down and my hands were clasped behind my back. I hardened my resolve, grabbed his wrist, and looked at him, "But at this point, you don't have a choice. You _will_ do this with me."

He looked thoroughly surprised, with hints of panic and amusement.

I couldn't help but smile, "You would have said no because I gave you a choice, but then you wouldn't just say it. I figured if I solved the problem for you by forcing you. Besides, me acting all flustered certainly wasn't helping. We don't have that much time."

He shook his head as he followed me into the main room. Well, it was better than dragging him.

I spotted Serena and walked over to her, "Serena! Why aren't you with Calem?"

Her jaw dropped, "He agreed to this?"

"Not exactly, but anyway, he's doing it," I replied.

She mumbled as she found him and brought him over.

"Serena, what the heck?" Calem asked.

She sighed, "I doubted Rubia, and now we have to dance together."

"During a slower song," I piped in.

Calem glared at me, "What."

"But I said if I would, she had to. So, there's why N's here," she added.

"How did you get the most anti-social being to dance with you? I mean, it's not as impressive as Paul-"

I cut him off, "Unless you know his pressure point, so to speak."

"Besides blackmail. Wait, is he being blackmailed?! Rubia! What happened to you?!" Calem exclaimed.

"It's not blackmail," I objected.

"I won't believe it until I hear it from him. Come on, man, you can tell me the truth. Blink twice for yes, once for no," Calem turned.

I sighed as Serena and Calem stared at him waiting for him to blink.

"She did not blackmail or trick me into this," he announced.

I blinked and looked up.

"Looks like that's news for Rubia," Serena snickered.

I gave her a sharp look.

"Guys, a slower song is starting up," Calem broke the slight tension, "I'm sorry for whatever she may have done to force you into this."

Serena rolled her eyes, "Let's go."

They went off, a strange pair the two were, a were wolf and an angel.

"Shall we be off?" I asked.

He gave a quarter smile, "Whenever you're ready."

I took a deep shuddering breath and took his hand, "Seeing as you don't know what we're doing, I'm supposing I'll be the one to lead."

"That would be best," he agreed.

My blood was moving slow unlike my racing heartbeat that was thumping in my ears. I held back the flow of memories, not now. Not ever.

_**SKIPPING THE DANCING BECAUSE I MYSELF AM A TERRIBLE DANCER/DON'T KNOW ANYTHING**_

As soon as the most awkward/memory struggling moments of my life ended, I quickly went to our dorm. I shoved my face in my pillow, and just stayed like that. I can't believe I went through with that. After last time. . . So what if it was a long time ago, it brings back too much. Well, the guy who was my partner was shorter than N was, and it was forced during a ballroom dance class final exam. Why we were forced to take that class, I'll never know. Well, uncle is a little strange with a love for classical dance hidden in his cold stone heart.

But, on the bright side, Serena did admit something to me. Calem did as well. Now all they have to do is admit it to each other.

I'm never going to live this down.

Oh my gosh, why did I just think of this now?! There are creepy fanboys who were asking me to dance up until then, and then I just come from no where with N?!

I am a despicable human being. Well, on the bright side, he should survive, he probably learned some self defense when he was King of Team Plasma.

But still. It's not like I like him like that or anything, so if I can convince them of that, he won't have anything to worry about.

Then there are the death threats. If those carry over to him, I'll never forgive myself.

I'm hopefully just overreacting.

Hopefully I'm also not right about Miss Waterflower and the other two. That would really be terrible. And Mister Hayden's little sister.

At this rate, there's no time for worrying about myself and the past.

And so the clock struck midnight, and the night was crisp and clear.

Hopefully the shadows won't steal all that we hold dear.

* * *

Was 24

Thanks for reviewing, BlazekinForever and Eeveemaster7!

Eeveemaster7, I'm honored that you're honored! XD

BlazekinForever, choose a ship and I'll write a one-shot for you, or if you prefer I can use a character with your permission to make a cameo appearance! Because you were the 50th reviewer!

Pretty much anyone can request a ship for me to write, and I'll do something, so long as I support it! But BlazekinForever's will probably come sooner.

Thanks so much for reading!


	18. Chapter 18

Rubia's POV

_"Come on, White! We're going to be late!" a girl with blue hair and pink eyes urged._

_My hand was still on the door knob, "This room holds the records of all the people in the agency?"_

_"Yeah, that's what I just said," she confirmed._

_"I-I have to check something," I told her, "I'll be out in a minute, I'll catch up with you."_

_"No way, I'm going in with you. You'll need a computer whiz to get through that mess," she shook her head._

_"Fine, but we can't take long," I reluctantly agreed._

_She grinned and picked the lock on the door, scuttling in and typing furiously on the computer, "There. You can check just about anything you want now."_

_"Thanks," I sat own and typed in, 'Black.'_

_"I should have known, you're checking to see if he's still alive, aren't you? It's been two months, shouldn't you be okay by now? It's not like you saw it happen," she rolled her eyes._

_I scanned through the list of names that appeared._

_"It's not like you could check without is real name, you know," she informed._

_A name stood out to me. Maximillion Fallis, partner, Chrissa Fallis._

_"See, you don't know. I'm leaving for class," she told me as she left._

_I don't know his name, but I do know my parents'. Why did they reuse the codenames? I thought they only did that if they were dead. My parents went missing, they're still alive, I know they are._

_I clicked on it. My eyes widened when I saw a picture of a middle aged man with dark almost black hair and gold eyes._

_My voice caught in my throat when I saw the words in red stamped in the slot for status._

_Exterminated. Person who ordered the execution, Looker. Found guilty of being a double agent._

_Exterminated. Execution._

_My father was dead._

_And he was killed by Looker._

_"White, are you here?" a voice called._

_I knew that voice. I didn't turn around._

_"Rubianna, what are you doing here?" the same voice came from a different direction._

_I felt someone at my side. We turned and examined each other. Her hair was slightly lighter and she had clear blue eyes, if you looked close you could tell they were contacts. She had he slightly wavy hair in a high ponytail with two strands on either side. She looked exactly as I had two or three years ago. That was before I had to change. I got bangs, dyed my hair slightly darker, and dyed my bangs different colors. I stopped wearing the blue contacts, and changed my style of clothing. I wore make up regularly to alter my appearance slightly, and straightened my hair every morning. There was no way you could tell we were the same person by appearance alone. I had also changed my voice and personality for my new life, using my real name._

_The two people were both N, one a few years younger, who was the one calling to White, the younger me. The other N was current day N, calling for Rubianna._

_"Why did you change so much, Rubia?" a boy the same age as younger me asked. He had brown messy hair that matched his eyes. He was wearing the same blue jacket and red hat he always wore, "Why did you get rid of White? I think I prefer White to boring old Rubia."_

_"Black? But you're. . ." I started._

_"See, you can't even admit it. Seriously, it happened when we were twelve. Well, then again, you were six when-"_

I bolted awake in a cold sweat.

Just a dream, Rubia. Just a dream. He's gone, he's never coming back. Even if he could, he's the past. You know there's no going back.

I need to leave. I don't care where to, I just need to leave. I can't come back. He's here. And as long as he is, I can't.

I checked the clock, it was two in the morning. Serena was sound asleep and snoring, so I quietly took out my suitcase that was larger on the inside and began to pack everything I needed inside of it.

I took a deep breath, zipping it closed. I picked it up and sneaked out into the hallway, down the stairs and to the entry, not caring that I was still in my costume(I fell asleep right after I laid down on my bed).

I had just gotten outside the side gate of the school when I felt a presence. I took a sharp breath as I realized I knew exactly who these people were.

They had been waiting for this. Every night.

"I must applaud your dedication," I commented in a way that a teacher does with six year olds, "After all, not many girls your ages would do this, regardless of whether or not they were part of a criminal organization."

"Shut up, there's nothing you can do. We're not letting you report back. If you take another step, we'll kill you," one sneered from the shifting shadows.

"With what?" I challenged.

"What do you think?" one mocked.

"You don't have any weapons, and you won't get finger prints on me. I would say you have gloves and you're going to try to take me down with your own hands," I guessed.

"Exactly," one quipped.

"Bold. Which one of you will make the final blow?" I asked.

They laughed, "We won't, we're getting our pokemon to make the final blow. We've decided to burn you alive."

My heart skipped a beat and my hands began to sweat, "You sick scum. Using pokemon to do your dirty work? Pathetic."

"What do you think they're for?" one scoffed.

Fury rose within me, "Go ahead then, give it your best shot. You won't land a single hit on me."

The girls concealed in black encircled me, one in the center.

I closed my eyes and listened as she charged.

Now. My arm snapped out, stopping hers as my knee swiftly collided with her sternum. I sharply hit the back of her head, and she fell to the ground, knocked out by the blow.

I opened my eyes, "Who's next?"

* * *

Was 25

So, things have officially gotten more epic.

Eeveemaster7, XD I'm just happy you like the story so far!

BlazekinForever, I didn't put in your OC yet, because I didn't think you wanted to try to kill Rubia.

Thanks for reading, please review!


	19. Chapter 19

Rubia's POV

In the span of ninety minutes, I had taken out nine of the twelve girls. Not bad, but I'm a bit rusty. At this point, it was two cowering twig-like girls, and one leader who was screaming at them.

"You idiots! How could you let her beat you?! She hasn't been doing this for two years and you got destroyed!" it was a little amusing for her to be yelling at unconscious girls.

The adrenaline was pumping through me, making me wide awake even at four in the morning, "You might want to switch up your strategy."

My breathing was slightly forced, even if they were easy wins, taking down nine people before dawn was tiring.

"You idiots! Let me show you how we were _supposed_ to do it!" she stomped, taking out a small metal box.

My eyes widened. She had a lighter. I nervously laughed, "We're on pavement, nothing's going to catch on fire."

I could feel her mocking smile without seeing her face, "Good job, you noticed the surroundings. All except the most important detail."

She lit it and I began to panic. It's just a small flame, you're not afraid, I repeated inside my head.

She touched it to the ground and I was in a ring of fire, the gap filled in by one of the girls who was once cowering.

Seeing the flames leaping out at me, I was changed from a determined fighter, to a little girl, helpless, small, weak, and vulnerable. In my terror in confusion, my mind had stopped working, I had sat on the ground, hugging my knees chanting, "I am not afraid," under my breath.

I guess the best way to describe it would be pitiful and pathetic.

She tossed the lighter to the second girl, "Hold that flame right over her so she won't struggle. Don't touch her with it," she commanded, pulling out a thin razor sharp blade that danced wildly with the colors of the fire. She walked over to me, her crony on her left. The scared girl flicked the lighter on, and held it above my head, telling me to lie down.

Then she said something that surprised me, "I'm so sorry. Please help me," it was barely audible, but I heard it.

Of course, in the state that I was, I wouldn't understand what she had said until later.

I was now laying flat on the ground in the shape of a T. A wad of fabric was shoved into my mouth.

As I lay frozen with fear of the flames gaining heat, she began to traced lines on my arms with her knife, slowly and steadily, not going very deep at all. I felt the skin splitting open and my blood seeping through and over. On each forearm there were seven short horizontal lines and one that went straight through the middle of all of them. I held in as many screams and whimper as I possibly could, only a few escaping into the fabric. But I didn't struggle, I didn't resist. All my adrenaline and confidence had evaporated when that first tiny flame flickered to life.

She then delicately with slightly more force cut two swift ever so slightly curved lines right under my rib cage. Everything was symmetrical. That earned more screams, though the screams made it hurt more, even as they were trapped by the clump of cloth. She split my lip and smiled down on my face, placing the blade under my chin, "Maybe I will kill you after all."

I closed my eyes, trying to think of a way out of it. That was when it registered that the other girl in front of me wanted to help.

I found my voice, "Two inches."

I got some confused looks, but the girl nodded and raised the flame a little over two inches.

I turned my head slightly and bit down hard on the girl with the knife's hand, making her yelp and back away. I tripped her and swiftly knocked her out.

I was surprised to see the flames were gone.

I slowly and shakily got to my feet. I clutched my side and and began to walk away, flinching as I went.

I had almost gotten to the bathroom to wash off the blood when I bumped into someone. Pain shot through me.

"Oh my gosh, I'm sorry," the red headed girl apologized, "I was just on the way to the bathroom and I guess I didn't look to see where I was going," she seemed rather flustered. She had mid back length red-orange curly hair, freckles dotting her pale skin, and blue green eyes. She had an average build, and wore her hair down.

When I saw that she was already dressed in a light green t shirt that was a little snug with a teal unzipped hoodie over it and tighter fit ripped boot cut jeans topped off with worn, black Converse shoes on, I asked, "What time is it?"

She looked down at her watch, "6:30, an hour and a half until first period," her eyes widened, "Oh my gosh, you're bleeding!"

I cursed in my head, "Oh, what do you know, it looks like I am, a lot," I winced, feeling dizzier by the moment.

"We need to get you to the nurse!" she exclaimed.

"No! Please, don't, no one can know about this," I requested.

She bit her lip, "But I have to help somehow."

"Don't worry about it, I'll be fine," I tried to smile reassuringly, but it probably turned out to be more of a grimace.

"Here," she helped steady me, "I'll get you to the restroom so you can clean up."

"No, I'm really fine, just don't tell anyone, okay?" I requested.

She took her hand back looking down, "Sorry, I should have asked first. Is there any other way I could help?"

"Don't worry, okay? I'll be fine. You could help me by letting this be our secret," I paused, "And if it's not too much to ask, clothes that aren't wet with my blood would be nice."

She winced slightly at my casual mentions of my blood spilling out all over myself, "I can get you something, just wait in the bathroom, okay? Don't strain yourself."

I smiled, "Thanks, that's really nice of you to do this for a girl you barely know. What's your name?"

"Aurora, your welcome!" she hurried off.

I let out a breath and slowly made progress to the girls' restroom.

**_LATER IN HOME ECONOMICS_**

Cleaning. Of all the days to do cleaning, it had to be right after the stuff that happened this morning. Of course, I didn't want to start conversation with my partner in case it went to last night, or somehow this morning, so we worked in awkwardly comfortable silence.

Occasionally I would wince from moving, and at this point all I could do was hope N didn't catch on to it. Fat chance of that.

At one point, I managed to splash scalding soapy water all over myself, so without thinking, I started rolling up my sleeves. Of course, that meant that anyone could see the cuts. I quickly rolled them back down, but N caught my wrist, and pushed back my sleeve.

I gave a little squeak, "Why the heck did you just do that?!"

His eyebrows scrunched, "These weren't here last night. I apologize if dancing really brings up that bad of memories."

I tried pulling down my sleeve, "You think I did this myself?!" I glared.

He caught my gaze, "Then what did happen?"

I sighed, "Just let me put down my sleeve before someone notices!"

He let go of my wrist, "Tell me."

I hastily pulled down my sleeve, "You were right about the death threats being serious, okay?"

"Then why is only your arm damaged?" he asked.

"Well excuse me for fighting back!" I snapped.

"Where else did they cut you?" he continued.

"Why do you care?" I hissed.

"The real question is why did they try to kill you?" he bounced back.

"They didn't get the memo that I've changed since two years ago," I answered.

"What was two years ago?" he went further.

"I finished my Unova journey and you- never mind," I stopped myself.

"What were you about to say?" he narrowed his eyes.

"It doesn't matter!" I crossed my arms.

He took a deep breath and looked away, "You know somethings that you clearly shouldn't."

"I never asked to know them!" I retorted.

"You seemed to have missed my point," he started cleaning again.

I blinked, "Then what was your point?"

"You need to be more careful, you shouldn't be getting hurt like this," he sighed.

I blinked yet again and smiled slightly, "Yeah, that wasn't my original plan."

"Oh, and the answer to your question is that you are the closest person I have to a friend, that is why I care," he admitted.

I smiled wider, "You know, I could just be your friend."

"That would be. . . Nice," he decided.

Friends. Like before.

Hopefully the result won't be the same.

* * *

Formerly 26

I AM SO SORRY. THIS IS 24 HOURS LATE. I miscalculated my free time. DX

BlazekinForever, got your OC in! I'm sorry I made you wait! DX I'm not sure when I'll post the one-shot, hopefully soon!

Eeveemaster7, SAO won't show up until Christmas Eve. Well, it won't be revealed. ;) I will be combining our ideas after all.

Yeah, if Rubia still confuses you, you'll just have to wait. Well, there's one part I haven't even hinted at.

So, opinions please?


	20. Chapter 20

Dawn's POV (I know, I know, it's been forever)

_Dear Diary,_

_Oh, goodness. The things that have been going on since I last wrote in you. It's now mid December, and things are so different from when the school year started! Like, for one, I got over my crush on Ash, Gary and Leaf are a couple(I know, right?! Took them long enough!), Drew dumped Ursula(thank goodness!), Kenny and I had reduced the initial awkwardness caused by the first dance, I became a pretty decent coordinator, Misty was nicer, Rubia got less creepy, and Kenny and I had had our first fight._

_It was always cold and windy outside, and some snow, but not much. The leaves had all fallen and changed from crisp reds and golds to blended ochres and coppers. The morning after Halloween we found a bunch of girls passed out by the back gate, and one of them had a lighter, another had a knife. When they woke up, they didn't remember anything that had happened._

_I SURVIVED EXAMS! But tomorrow I have to do an extra battle because I wasn't invited, my battle would be against another coordinator my age. I didn't know who it would be yet. My friends and I organized a Secret Santa gift exchange, and I had Misty. I had gotten her a new lure because I had heard that she gave her to someone a while back._

_Love,_

_Dawn_

I put my diary under my pillow after locking it, and turned off the flashlight I was using and followed May's example by falling asleep.

* * *

I woke up and saw a folded piece of paper tied to a rock by my bed, and a hole in the window.

Shaking my head, I looked at it. It was addressed to Dee-Dee in Kenny's handwriting, so I unfolded the paper.

It was a poem, and when I read it, my face exploded with color.

This was the poem:

Roses are red  
Violets are blue  
Sugar is sweet  
But you knew that too

There's something this Christmas  
I'd like you to know  
To me you are  
Much better than snow

I know how you feel  
But I need to say  
These three words  
One of these days

If you want to forget  
That's fine by me  
Just letting you know  
Will set me free

Roses are red  
Violets are blue  
Why's it so hard  
To say I love you?

I rubbed my eyes, and read it a few more times. Yup, definitely what it said.

I creeped into Misty's room and woke her up, "Can you slap me?"

"No," she groaned.

"Come on, please?" I begged.

"Just slap yourself," she rolled over.

"Just release all of your anger from when I kissed Ash," I requested.

She slowly rolled back over and sat up, "I don't think you want that."

"I do! And don't deny you're in love with him either!" I called.

Pain exploded in my nose and I clutched it moaning, "I asked for a slap, not a broken nose."

"I. Am. _Not._ In. Love. With. Ketchum. Got it?" she menaced.

I shut my mouth, not wanting to get hit with her mallet this time.

"What was that about anyway?" she asked, mostly calmed down.

"I was hoping this was some weird dream," I admitted.

She blinked.

"If I show you, you can't tell anyone. Got it?" I sighed.

She smiled widely and nodded.

I reluctantly handed to poem to her.

As she read through it, her eyes widened and her face lit up, "That is so sweet! This is from Kenny, right?"

I hid my face in my hands, "It's his handwriting, who else could it be?"

"What are you going to tell him?" she asked.

"I don't know! I never really thought about him like that," I groaned.

She looked at me skeptically, "Uhuh, that's what May said according to Brianna when she asked him, and we all know how she really feels."

"But it's different!" I declared, "Kenny has actually told me his feelings!"

"You can't just not say anything to him!" she argued.

"I don't know what I'm supposed to say," I whined.

"Then stay in my room and hide!" she prompted.

"Isn't there another way?" I pleaded.

"Telling him how you feel!" she added.

"Stanza four," I tried.

"He loves you! Don't 'stanza four,' me! I'm sick of people being dumb and breaking others' hearts! Why can't we just say what we feel? Tough if we're cared, we need to stop being pansies and man up!" she ranted.

"Morning, Misty, care to tell what's going on?" Leaf slowly sat up in her bed, "Oh, Dawn, I was supposed to tell you that you're battling Kenny at two."

You're kidding me.

**_RIGHT AFTER LUNCH, 1:00_**

I knocked on the door to Rubia and Serena's room.

She opened it looking slightly hostile, "Oh, it's you."

"Rubia? I need some help," I poked my fingers together.

She blinked and smiled, "Come on in."

Her dorm was perfectly tidy, not a thing out of place. But Serena wasn't there.

"Where's Serena?" I asked.

Her face darkened slightly, "It's complicated."

I handed her the poem, "Tell me what to do."

She scanned through it, "It was going to happen eventually. You want to know how you feel about him, right?"

"If it's not too much to ask," I admitted.

She looked up, "I can only help you if you made a good argument for me liking someone."

I took a deep breath, "I saw you dancing with N, and I've seen you guys during class. You seem really close to a guy who doesn't like people much. After all, he wouldn't have danced with anyone else, or really make much physical contact."

She looked shocked, "What?"

"I mean, N is one of the least likely people to even appear like he has-"

She cut me off glaring, "Never. Don't ever say something to me about any kind of relationship friendship or otherwise involving him."

I looked down, "But-"

"You don't know why, in fact, neither does he. It needs to stay that way. But I'll accept your argument," she snapped, cold as ice.

I gulped, "Rubia, what's going on with you?"

She sighed, "Sorry for snapping, I'm just really. . . Tense."

"Umm, it's alright, we all have our days," I smiled nervously. I began to wonder if this is what Calem brought up to get slapped.

"Just a warning, you have a slight chance of dying or getting caught in a comatose state forever if you go through with this. Only if you don't trust me, that is," she continued like nothing happened.

My eyes widened, "What?!"

"If you haven't noticed, I have a lot of complicated confusing never to be spoken out loud events in my past," she defended.

"I guess. . . I'll do it," I decided.

She looked shocked, "Wait, you actually trust me after all this?"

"Yeah," I agreed.

She shook her head, "Just don't freak out, okay?"

I nodded.

She pulled out a purple pokeball with an m on it. She released it, and I saw a pokemon I d only ever heard of.

Oh my Arceus.

To be more accurate, oh my Mew Two.

* * *

Was 27

Eeveemaster7, how's this for Christmas Eve hurrying up? XD Rubia, you won't understand her until I think five chapters?

BlazekinForever, I'm so glad I got her right I was so scared of messing her up! Yeah, Rubia is even more confusing

Glad you enjoyed it so far, my glorious readers!

Please review!


	21. Chapter 21

Dawn's POV

"Don't freak out!" Rubia reminded.

I closed my gaping mouth, and in an awkwardly high voice, "Why would I be freaking out? You just have a legendary pokemon made from Mew's DNA, no biggie."

She let out a breath, "You took that better than I thought. Now I'll explain what we're doing. I'm sure you've heard that Mew Two has incredible psychic powers, well we're going to use them to sort though your head."

"You say that like that's a normal thing! How do you have it?!' I bubbled over.

"Once again, it's complicated. Let's just say I've orchestrated several prison breaks in my day," she admitted. It was ike she wanted to tell me these things, even thoug she shouldn't.

"Okay, how does it work?" I asked.

"Well, I'm not exactly sure. It would normally be done with a human helping out, but all I can really do is tell Mew Two when to stop so that you don't get stuck," she explained.

"What do I do?" I sat down on her bed.

"Just lay down on my bed and relax. You'll see a few flashes of memories, but other than that, you just think on whether or not you like him like that," she instructed.

I laid down and closed my eyes, wondering if I really did like him. It would be a little strange, with us being so close and all.

Suddenly my mind was all over the place, jumping from memories so old I couldn't remember, just bits and pieces faded away brought back in full color.

Suddenly I woke up, gasping and shocked with realization. All this time, I thought I was feeling friendship,

"Are you alright?" Rubia checked, looking slightly worried.

"Just a little dizzy," I admitted, clutching the bed to stand up.

"So, did you get your answer?" she asked.

"Yeah," I nodded, "What time is it?"

"1:50," she looked at her watch.

My eyes widened, "I have to go! Thanks for all your help, Rubia!"

* * *

"Pachirisu, discharge upwards!" I commanded. I was using my last resort of trying to fill the battlefield with electricity. It worked pretty well, up until it started tearing up the ground, chunks of dirt flying everywhere.

Guess where the lagest piece hit. Kenny's head, leaving him crumpled on the ground. And he wasn't moving.

After that, I don't remember much. I know that I ended up next to Kenny in an emergency care room, but I couldn't remember what they told me about his condition. He almost looked relaxed, other than the medical equipment and a bandage covering a swollen lump on his head. He looked so. . . Vulnerable, it seemed to sap all the energy from the air.

Eventually, I fell asleep.

* * *

I woke up to hear sniffling and a steady beep. I lifted my head from the hospital bed, then realized all that had happened. It wasn't just a nightmare.

Right behind me was the source of the sniffling, Kenny's mom in his father's arms. I felt a hand on my shoulder and saw that my mom had come as well.

"Dawn? Would you like to come with me for a moment?" my mother offered, glancing at the sobbing mother.

I gave a slight nod and shuffled out into the empty white halls.

"Did you hear his status?" she looked very concerned.

I got a lump in my throat, my mother showing concern terrified me almost as much as his limp form, "Not really."

She sighed, "We're not sure when or if he'll wake up, or what condition he'll be in. This is not your fault."

I felt tears prick my eyes, "Yes, it is, I called the attack, I ran away to join the school because I wasn't mature enough to accept things."

She reached forward to hug me.

I pushed her arm away, "Stop! I d-don't want y-you to tell me it's all g-going to be alright!" I began to start sobbing.

"Dawn, I have to leave and go to Cerulean soon, would you like to say with Kenny's parents for a few days?" my mom offered.

That's right, Leo lives in Cerulean city. And my mother was going to abandon me to spend time with him, "Yeah, they like me more than you do anyway."

I turned sharply on my heel and went back into his hospital room.

* * *

May's POV

Okay, there's something I should explain before we continue. So, do you remember when I was at Grass Head's house an met Tabitha? Well, she made us promise that they would stay at our house for winter break. I was beginning to realize that a sword wan't the bast idea to give an eight year old girl.

Yeah, thought it would be a fair warning before you saw him in my house. He was kind of scared of my dad, I think the conversation they had as soon as he showed up. I guess I kind of forgot to tell them about it. Whoops. Anyway, Drew and I were on a walk as it just began to snow. The snowflakes looked like some strange yet beautiful hybrid of mashed potato flakes and sugar. Or salt. Or artificial sweetener for that matter.

"April? You haven't been saying much," Grass Head nudged me in the side with his elbow.

"Neither have you, thinking about Ursula?" I asked.

"I've told you a million times, I'm over her," he sighed.

"You sure? 'Cause you look heart broken," I joked, trying to smile but it felt a bit more like a wince.

"Yes, Maple, I'm sure. I never really liked her that much in the first place," he flicked my head.

"Ow," I rubbed the spot, "What's your proof?"

"I never told her about Tabitha, you know," He shoved his hands in his pockets.

"Yeah, you haven't told anyone besides Solidad and me, your point?" I shrugged.

"You wouldn't understand if I told you. After all, you wouldn't listen," he looked at the sky.

"Well, it depends on how you phrase it," I admitted.

* * *

Used to be 28

I AM SO SORRY! I THOUGHT I WOULD HAVE WIFI.

Eeveemaster7, I'm glad you like the time skip! Don't worry about not understanding her, only a few chapters before a lot makes sense.

BlazekinForever, yet another fan of the time skip. XD Yeah, she's the reason for the title. I couldn't come up with a title that didn't confuse people.

Meliaantiqua, I'm glad you like this story, and I'm honored I got your first review! I felt awkward for their relationship, so I have a plan that will hopefully work.

Rainbine5, I'm sorry I couldn't grant your request. D:

Thegraypoet, you said all you needed to.

RareFroslass, your hype has rubbed off on me. I hope you're proud.

Thanks for reading, and once again, sorry!


	22. Chapter 22

May's POV

"What if those roses weren't for beautifly?" he checked, closing his eyes like he was bracing himself.

"What does that mean?" I blinked, he makes no sense sometimes, "That's really going to prove to me you didn't like Ursula."

"Then maybe this will," what the heck was he- our cheek bones collided.

"Drew, did you just-"

"Shut up, April, nothing happened," he was fiddling a rose in his hand.

"Well, that was awkward," I announced, "Do you want to go back?"

"Nah, let's stay out a little longer," at this point, I wasn't sure if his face was red from the cold, or if he was blushing. Probably both.

I sighed, "What do we do now? I mean, since that never happened and all."

"I don't know," he crammed the rose into his pocket slightly viciously.

"Do you want an answer?" I whispered.

"What was that, Maple?" he asked.

"Do you want an answer?" I repeated.

He looked down, "I think I got the message. How did you not know sooner?"

"Well, I, uh, I, people kind of told me all the time but I never really believed them," I admitted, looking down.

"Why's that?" he grumbled.

"Too much to hope for," I whispered, my face heating up, "Let's go back before Tabitha starts thinking crazy things."

"Yeah," Drew muttered.

* * *

"Mom, can we talk in private?" I asked after sending Drew off to go hang out with Tabitha.

"Sure, honey, Max and your father are at the gym, so go ahead. What's on your mind?" she sat down on the brown leather couch, patting a seat for me to take.

I plopped down beside her, "Mom, when did you guys say I could start dating?"

"When your father finally accepts a boy you're interested in. This is about Drew, isn't it?" she smiled.

I blushed, "Wh-what are you talking about?!"

"It really couldn't be more obvious, May," she shook her head, "I'll talk to your father when he gets back."

It was that obvious? No wonder Max teases me so much about it.

"In the meantime, you should play in the snow with Drew and Tabitha," my mom suggested, standing up.

I groaned, getting up and throwing a coat on as I walked outside.

The snow had now covered the grass, coming down thicker and heavier. I snickered as I watched Tabitha stuff some snow down his shirt, making him yelp. A deep red mini van with heavily tinted sped by, confusing me because we lived on a dead end. But it slowed down,almost stopping by us, then continued to go fast, turning around.

I had a really bad feeling about this, I can't explain why, but it was freaking me out.

"Guys, maybe we should go inside," I suggested.

Grass Head turned, "Why, you just got out here."

"It's cold," I tried.

"Not really," Tabitha argued.

"Come on guys, just do it!" I pleaded.

"Not until you tell us why," Drew decided.

The vehical stopped, "We don't have time for this!" I grabbed Drew by his collar and pressed my lips on his, "Now get moving!"

* * *

Dawn's POV

Day six, one day until Christmas eve. Still waiting for him to wake up.

"Dawn? I think you need to leave the hospital, you've only had the meals they serve, and you barely touch it. You aren't talking, and I don't think I've seen you move. You haven't smiled in days, what would Kenny think if he woke up and he saw you as a shade of the Dawn we know and love? He would be happier to see you full of life than just skin and bones." his mother explained.

I lifted my head, "But I might miss when he wakes up."

"Don't worry, we'll let you know. Now, I'm taking you to the mall right now, and there's nothing you can do about it," her voice trembled as she clutched my hand and dragged me away. I didn't fight it.

* * *

Walking through some stores, I saw a familiar face working and ice cream parlor.

I walked in to check to make sure it was her, so I started watching from the window. She was serving the cold treat with a smile, even in winter. She also had hot beverages and fresh pastries and sweets.

As soon as she finished with that costumer, she dialed someone on her phone.

My phone rang and I picked it up, "Hello?"

"I know you're watching me from the window, you can come in. I'll give you a pecha berry pie, my treat," Rubia offered. She hadn't looked my direction this entire time.

I sat across from her on one of the red backless spinny chairs with a metal stand. She slid me a pie, two pieces cut out, one for herself, and one for me.

After swallowing a bit of pie, she began talking, "Would you like some help?"

"With what?" I asked.

"Kenny, he hasn't woken up. My pokemon that no one else knows about can probably help since almost all the damage is mental. But you have to leave for LaRousse. Around . . . Now." she hit the air with her fork as my phone rang again.

* * *

May's POV

We were trying to open the door, "Uh, Drew? I think I left my keys inside."

"Drew!" Tabitha screamed. We both whipped around.

Oh my freaking Arceus, we left Tabitha. She was getting tied up by men in red suits and sunglasses obscuring their face while some women pointed at us.

"Tabitha!" Drew ran straight for her, not seeing the men ready to grab him, holding hi back just barely from being able to help her. He struggled to gain nothing but a tighter grip and exhaustion.

I was about to go run for help when a woman stopped me dead in my tracks, "We can't leave such a pretty little girl behind, can we?"

I backed up, not saying anything.

"It will hurt less if you don't struggle so much, look at greenie over there, he's going to get knocked out before we even get in the car. He's not going to nearly as pretty at this rate," she sneered.

"If you touch one _insignificant hair _on his head, I personally-" I heated up.

"May, just get out of here while you can! Leave us behind!" Drew yelled before getting a wad of fabric stuffed in his mouth.

I was grabbed from behind, squealing as I was thrown in the car with the rest of them as they drove away.

* * *

Dawn's POV

"Hello?" I answered.

"Come to LaRousse, you'll have a map to get to the address where we have your friends. Tick tock," the line went dead.

I slowly put my phone down, "How did you-"

"Someone thought I should know this before it happened. They're bait, you and your remaining friends are the lure, and I'm the catch," she finished her piece of pie.

"So this. . . It's real?" I asked.

"As real as it get's, I'm afraid," she stood up, "Now get going to LaRousse, I'll take care of Kenny."

"Thanks," I stood up and ran to the monorail station. What had Rubia gotten me into?

* * *

Formerly 29

Heh heh heh. ;D I loved writing this chapter. Feel free tocall me out on being cruel or a terrible human being.

RareFroslass, I believe your phrase, "You're a terrible human being, but I respect you for that," now comes into play. But I believe that stopped working after the illusioN thiNg happened iN the woods by the notes in the notebook.

BlazekinForever, if that killed you, I really am sorry for what this chapter has done to you. It's probably worse.

Guest, I'm happy you think it's cool! :D

Eeveemaster7, Mewtwo comes back, don't worry. Actually, with the way he comes back, you should worry.

Thanks for reading! :D

How I love these chapters.


	23. Chapter 23

IMPORTANT READ

So you know how I said T for future blood? Well, later on in this chapter, there is some decently bloody stuff, worse than what those girls did to Rubia. So, thought I'd warn you!

* * *

Dawn's POV

I was now standing in front of the huge doors guarding the huge high tech building with a huge glass dome for a roof, the main part being circular with two smaller rectangular sections jutting from the original. It was made of huge white slabs of stone, with huge oak doors.

"Ash, what the heck do you think you're doing looking through my bag?!" a familiar voice screamed.

"I thought I smelled chocolate," he whimpered.

"Ash? Misty?" I asked.

"Oh, hey Dawn!" the raven haired boy smiled and waved.

"Did you guys get a call too?" I checked.

"Yup! Well, I did, but Misty stole my pokegear," he glared at the red head.

"But I thought you lived in Pallet and she lived in Cerulean," I scrunched my eyebrows together.

"I was staying with my dad, Leo, and his girlfriend. He lives in Cerulean, so I got to hang out with Mist a lot," he explained.

Wait a second, Leo who lives in Cerulean and had his girlfriend over for the holidays?

There is no way, "Is her name Johanna?"

"Yeah! And she actually looks a lot like you!" Ash smiled.

My jaw dropped, "No, that can't be right, there is no way my mother is dating _Ash's_, of all people's fathers!"

"Dawn? Are you okay?" Leaf touched my shoulder.

"Hi Leaf and Gary! Those two did go to Pallet Town for the holidays!" he waved.

"Hey, Ashy boy, I see you and red got a call too," Gary smirked.

"Don't call me red!" Misty whipped out her mallet.

"Hello, Troublesome," Paul greeted monotonously from the shadows.

I jumped, "Would people stop creeping up on me?! And my name is DAWN!"

"Guys, we should probably go inside considering we were called because some of our friends were taken hostage," Misty suggested.

"Yeah, I wonder who they took," Ash pondered, "Shouldn't we wait for May and Drew?"

We all looked at each other, "Ash, you just answered your own question," Leaf pointed out.

"Oh, I guess I did! Well, let's go save them!" he pushed open the huge doors into a cavernous dark room.

The doors slammed shut behind us.

"Is it just me, or is anyone else really freaked out?" I whispered.

"Why are we whispering?" Leaf asked.

"It feels like we're in some horror story," Gary commented.

* * *

**AUTHOR'S NOTE PLEASE READ**

**I AM WRITING A STORY CALLED NOCTURNA ON A JOINED ACCOUNT CALLED RAREGARYNITE**

**PLEASE CHECK IT OUT**

**SORRY FOR THE INTERRUPTION**

* * *

"Shut up," Leaf rolled her eyes.

"Hey guys! I think I found the light switch!" Ash called as lights flooded the room.

"Now that you've arrived, let's begin."

* * *

Rubia's POV

My eyes fluttered open to a stark white ceiling with blinding fluorescent lights. I groggily sat up, feeling my hair fall on my shoulders and back. I examined my surroundings. The walls were grey like the snow on the sides of the streets that gets ran over by countless amounts of cars. I was on a very stiff, uncomfortable cot, which could use a pillow. In front of me was a table, a boring metal one, with a boring chair to match.

I was in an interrogation room, which means I'm in a police station. Great, not this again. I sighed, I knew this day was coming, I just hoped it wouldn't be today. Or this century for that matter.

How had I gotten here again? That's right; I was at the hospital with Kenny. I was going to use Mewtwo to restore his memory, then it . . . oh. This was very extremely not good. Mewtwo possessed him then ran off with him. I groaned, why must I have such poor judgment? You'd think I would've learned after last time.

"I see you're awake," a middle aged man with dark brown hair that was slightly spiked and messy walked in and took the seat opposite of me. He wore a two piece brown pinstriped suit with a beige trench coat thrown over top and a dark blue tie. He had dark serious eyes to match his expression.

"It had to be you, Looker. Weren't you in Kalos? Or did you seriously get called in for me?" I complained.

His expression remained unreadable, "That's classified information."

I sighed dramatically and rolled my eyes, "Come on, you can tell me, uncle,"

"No I can't," he repeated.

"You're no fun," I leaned back.

"That's not my job," he announced.

I changed the subject, "So, you finally found me. Congratulations, only took you two years."

"You will have to go to jail to serve your sentence," he reminded.

"My sentence for what? You can't take me to court, you wouldn't dare. After all, I love to talk. You never know when I might blurt classified information," I waggled my fingers as I said the last bit.

"There will be no trial. You will serve your time," he declared.

I gaped. My justice loving uncle wasn't even going to give me a chance, "How long?"

"You stole a legendary from a government laboratory at a secret base, you broke a minor who was the King of Team Plasma out of prison, and you also committed breaking and entering as well as kidnapping," he listed.

"Pokémon abuse, unjust justice, I was invited, and he came willingly," I defended.

"What about being a traitor?" he added.

That I was stuck on.

"Just so you know, the agency hasn't been able to replace you," he let me know.

"I was that good?" I perked an eyebrow.

"Nobody can work with Cole," I face-palmed. My partner against crime was . . . special. He was dedicated to his fandoms as much as anyone could. He was pretty annoying, but occasionally, he was a fun guy. Not that I would ever tell him that, his gratefulness would change him from being barely tolerable to unbearable. I would never hear the end of the, "You really do care!' and the 'That's the nicest thing you've ever said about me!'

I had been stuck with him since we were nine. I had become, quote unquote, 'unpredictable, sporadic, spontaneous, and violent almost to the point of sadistic.' I digress. None of Cole's partners had stayed with him for more than an hour, so dear uncle forced us into a partnership. Somehow, even with our constant bickering and obsessing, we managed to be the best secret agent/spy duo in all of Sinnoh, Kanto, Kalos, Hoenn, Unova, and Johto. How we pulled that off defies explanation.

"Have you tried Skylar?" I mused. Skylar was my cousin/best friend as well as Looker's daughter. She might kill him, or they might actually make a good team.

"She already has a partner," he sighed.

"What? Who?" I blinked.

"Your brother," he almost sounded regretful.

"What?! You put _Skylar_ with _Damien_?" That won't end well. They are never going to get anything done. They would have a lot of fun with each other, no doubt, but that's what concerns me.

"Your older brother was the only one I could trust," oh, that explains it. He was ridiculously over-protective of his daughter. He used to be that way for me too, but I lost that when I did what I thought was the right thing to do. I have no regrets.

"You never answered the question, how long?" I repeated.

"If you came back, you could still get away from this," he didn't want to do this. He was still my uncle, and he was still supposed to protect me.

"Not a chance, not for Damien, not for Skylar, not for Cole, and certainly not for you. That would mean apologizing for what I did, and I don't feel like apologizing for something I did right for once. You never told any of us the whole truth, if anything _you_ should be apologizing to _me_," I stood my ground.

He sighed, "You know the penalty of treachery,"

"I thought since I was a minor they wouldn't kill me," I admitted.

"You'll never leave," he stared back.

"I hope I like my cell mate," I replied with just a hint of sarcasm.

"Arceus, Rubianna!" He slammed his hand on the table. I flinched; I hated it when people used my full name, "Stop being so selfish!"

"How am I being selfish?! I'm paying the price for what I've done! At least I'm not running away from this like a coward!" I stood up.

His face hardened, "What do you expect me to tell them? You didn't care enough to come back?"

"Another lie is nothing new," I glared.

"People change, Rubia," he told me.

"Then why didn't you believe me when I said that he changed?" I asked.

"You would happily break out of jail, but you won't avoid it completely if it means getting help," he stated.

"Never going is too easy, I need a challenge," I gritted my teeth.

"If you get caught again, you might get executed," he pointed out.

"I deserve a fair trial, and if I don't get one, every secret will be known," I spat.

"Just, go," he put his head in his hands.

"Thank you," I spun on my heel.

Uncle opened the door. Two beefy dudes came up and pulled out hand cuffs. They were about to put them on me when I requested, "Allow me to do this myself."

One arched an eyebrow. Apparently, not many prisoners ask to hand cuff themselves.

"Thank you," I snatched the devices and clicked them on my wrists behind my back. The door was open. I gasped, "That lemur is earthbending!"

They turned. I ran out and locked the two guards and the detective inside using the key panel. For a code, I used my hands behind my back to mash the buttons. I smirked, that was way too easy. Have people gotten even more stupid since I left, of was it just me? I took off the hand cuffs, a trick I learned when I worked for the agency, and walked to the reception desk.

Empty. But there was dear uncle's wallet and car keys. Oh uncle, when will you ever learn? I hid them on the desk, making sure I was in a blind spot on the cameras, no easy way out this time. If I'm going to be in prison for the rest of my life, I might as well have some fun. I noticed the PA. I've always wanted to do this. I turned it on for the entire building.

I announced, "Hey! Listen! Rubianna Vanessa Fallis, a thirteen year old girl, code name: White has locked Detective Looker and two policemen in the interrogation room. She now requests an escort to the jail that she will inhabit for the rest of her life. And Looker, don't leave your key and wallet in the open. I'm sorry to say this, but there was no earthbending lemur, just a mind-bending girl. Oh, hi there!" more policemen had shown up. They were dragging me away.

Once outside, I happily asked., "How long's the ride?" as I was forced gruffly into the vehicle. This was going to be fun.

* * *

Dawn's POV

"Hey, Ursula! What are you doing here?" Ash piped.

"Don't you want to know where your friends are first?" she wiggled her index finger at us.

I gasped as she stepped aside to reveal May, Drew, and a younger girl that I had to assume was Drew's relative from her hair(come on, who else has bright green hair?) bound, gagged, and unconscious on the floor. I felt my fists clench as I began to step forward, but someone caught my wrist.

"Let. Go," I growled.

Paul shook his head, "Don't be an idiot, Troublesome. This is exactly what she wants."

"You know, I wondered if you'd still be a feisty little girl if we took away your little boyfriend, but you did the job for us! And how convenient is it that as soon as you leave, he wakes up with amnesia? That couldn't have gone better if it was planned!" she mused in a sickly sweet voice with a smile that was haunted by the glint in her eyes.

"He woke up?" I lowered my guard.

"Weren't you listening? He has amnesia, he's as good as in a coma at this point. He doesn't remember anything," she snorted, "Especially not you, after all, you were such a minor annoyance in his all."

_'If you want to forget, that's fine by me,' _was accompanied by, _'He loves you! Don't 'stanza four,' me! I'm sick of people being dumb and breaking others' hearts! Why can't we just say what we feel? Tough if we're scared, we need to stop being pansies and man up!' _and worst of all, _'Well, sorry I can't be just like you, because you're so perfect. There are things you just can't tell people whenever someone asks, I'm not trying to throw a pity party for myself like you.'_

_'So all that you were talking about before you left TwinLeaf only applies to me?! I've trusted you with my problems, an when it comes down to it, you don't even trust me?!'_

_'Well, sorry. I really am. But this one time, you don't get to have it your way. Everyone else lets things go, and rarely gets thing to go their way as often as they do for you. Do you wanna know why? __Because they aren't nearly as self centered as you are. This may come as a surprise, but the world does not rely on you getting what you want when you want it,'_

"Ursula, that's enough. I can handle it from here," another woman stepped in. She was in her late thirties with platinum blond hair and cold grey eyes. She was rather pretty, but her hair was obviously bleached from being a much darker color, perhaps chocolate brown by her roots. What can I say, spend as much time on hair as I do, and you can notice these things easily. But her face structure and just something about her reminded me of someone, but I just couldn't put my finger on who. Her voice, just so much about her reminded me of someone.

"Of course," she stepped aside.

"We are looking for a girl who attended your school, would any of you happen to have a guess?" she began.

"It's May!" Ash exclaimed, "Now let my friends go!" he struggled against Misty who was seriously considering letting him attack them.

She clicked her tongue, "You've got to think harder than that. I'll give you all a shot."

"Dawn, you've got Ursula, and she probably hates Dawn the most," Misty guessed, "No offense."

"Closer, but still far," she examined her nails.

"Misty, she's a gym leader," Paul put in.

"No," she decided her nails were satisfactory.

"Me, I'm the only other girl here," Leaf decided.

"Did you really think our plan would be that simple and obvious?" she sighed, "I guess my daughter is a gem among rocks if that's all you can think of. But luckily, she isn't alone. She's just probably the crown jewel."

"Is it Solidad? She's pretty close to Drew and May," Gary tried.

"I said our plan wasn't simple or obvious," she reminded, "Well, seeing as you probably don't know who she is, we'll have to do something now that we've got you all here. I figured she would have come by now, in fact she's probably watching and waiting right now. We can't let her hide forever now, can we? Not with the information she has. Houndour," she released the pokemon, "Attack."

It pounced, fangs bared like knives.

"No, Mist!" Ash called.

The red head was pinned to the ground, slobber slithering onto her shirt, her eyes wide.

"Mist, are you okay?" Ash asked, sounding more concerned than the girl herself looked.

"We know you're watching, just come out and I won't have to hurt this pretty little girl. I know it must hurt to know who's doing this, but really, you did find out the truth, so it shouldn't come as a surprise," the woman talked to the ceiling, smiling.

"Don't," Misty called, "Don't come any closer, Ash."

He was about to try to shove the beast off of her, but her words stopped him from making a stupid choice.

The woman sighed, "You've forced me to do this. Houndour, crunch attack."

We all watched wide eyed in petrified horror as her blood spattered on the marble before streaming down the soft pierced flesh of her side, rapidly pooling around her limp body.

* * *

Misty's POV

I just couldn't do it. I thought I could handle it, I really thought I could. But watching yourself die isn't exactly the easiest thing to do, even if you aren't really dying.

The only thing that had messed up my plan was their reactions. To put it simply, I didn't expect them to care. Dawn had sunk to the floor, head in her hands, crying, Leaf was holding Gary's hand tightly, biting her lip, Gary was trying to comfort Leaf with something he was whispering to her, and the most shocking by far, Paul looked slightly shocked.

I probably could have dealt with that, the only real issue was him. The raven haired pokemon master wannabe I've known for so long was frozen, one arm reaching out like he was going to try to do something to stop what had taken place. His head lowered as his arm did, his fist clenching to the point where they trembled with white knuckles.

It finally dawned on him. I was dying, if I wasn't already dead.

I saw a drop of water fall from his face as he began to speak, "You cowards. You didn't even let her call her own pokemon, she was defenseless! That's not how you use them! You don't hurt people with them, you just don't do it! She didn't even have a chance, I don't care what your goal is, it's not worth Misty's life!"

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Ursula signal something.

That wasn't the deal. They promised me they wouldn't.

They were going to attack Ash.

* * *

At one point, this was 30

MWAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAhAHAAHAH!

:)

That-girl-from-outer-space6, YOU ARE FABULOUSLY AMAZING FOR FINDING OUT RUBIA WAS WHITE BEFORE THIS CHAPTER. I want to award you somehow. XD

Eeveemaster7, well now you know why you should be worried! :D Do you still love my cruelty?

BlazikenForever, intense is definitely a good word for this chapter. And the rest of the story.

Okay, in the future of this story(okay, decently far off), there will be a truth or dare game with Drew, May, Dawn, Ash, Gary, Leaf, and Misty, so feel free to give me some input!

Well, now that I've left you at least a little curious and in suspense, bye! :)

Please review!


	24. Chapter 24

Dawn's POV

While we were in shock about what they had done to Misty, we didn't catch what they were doing next. How could we have?

So, naturally, when they came for the boy holding the last victim in his arms, we were far from ready.

Everyone except the victim.

Somehow, Misty, while still in Ash's arms, came from out of nowhere, and yanked Ash away by his hood at the last second.

He looked up, "Mist? But, you're. . ." he looked back and forth between the girl in his arms, and his protector.

"You idiot! You can't just forget to look out for yourself because someone else is hurt! I'm not always going to be there to get you out of these messes!" she slapped him in the face.

He got over his shock, "What were you thinking, Mist?! We thought you were dead!"

"Do you really think I'd go down that easy?" she asked, "Besides, it was for your sake I did it."

"How was that for me?! Did you think you _dying_ would make me happy?!" he snapped.

"Considering how you just left, I don't see how you'd care!" you could see the tears in her eyes that threatened to spill out.

"Mist, I-"

He was cut off, "No. I don't want to hear it."

Her eyes widened when he got up and hugged her tightly, "Mist, that was the hardest thing I've ever done in my life."

She closed her eyes and hugged back.

"Sorry to ruin the moment, but how is that possible?" Gary broke the mood.

"Oh, the same way we can do this without remorse," the woman yanked up the younger girl by her hair and threw her before her feet. She let out a houndoom, "Crunch, on her throat."

I forced myself to look away, but I could hear Drew and May's screams as it tore through the child's neck.

"Oh, Drew hasn't told you? Or does he not even know?" she mused, "No matter, I was hoping he could explain it, it is his parents invention. Best for last, and we made sure of that."

I turned, and saw the blood everywhere, making sure I didn't make the mistake of looking at her.

"Drew, what is she talking about?" Leaf asked.

"He doesn't know, the only one who does is us, and his dear Aunt Clair," she smiled, "So, shall it remain a mystery? Or should I just tell you all?"

"My sister isn't dead?" Drew whispered, "She never got out of SAO! I thought they all came out, but I guess she's still in virtual reality! Where is she?!"

"Here, this might help," he was tossed a photo of some sort.

"Any one going to explain why we have two human bodies of people that aren't dead?" Gary asked.

The doors burst open to have cops flooding in, "Put you hands up, and back away from the bodies!"

We all turned to see Paul putting his phone back in his pocket, "I figured I'd do something useful."

"You waited until after all that?!" Leaf interrogated.

"It's not like you guys were going to," he rolled his eyes.

That day, we learned that the police are much better at handling kidnappings than a bunch of teenagers.

* * *

After the police rounded up all the thugs they could, they drove us all back to the station, giving us each a blanket and a cup of hot chocolate.

After we had settled down some, they took us each in for our side of the story, then gave us each personal escorts back to our families. And for me, that meant Kenny's family.

On second thought, I might want to go to Cerulean with Ash and Misty. Then I wouldn't have to face Kenny's amnesia. I thought about it after a while, and decided that I had to see him. Even if he couldn't remember me, I had to.

Upon walking into their house, I noticed how dark and quiet it was, which set alarm bells ringing. Kenny's mom always kept lights on, she had a fear of the dark, and what house is quiet enough to hear a pen drop two rooms down?

"Hello?" I called.

"Dawn?" his mom responded, opening a door and coming down the steps. When she got in the entry, I could sort of see her, "Oh, Dawn, where did you run off to?"

"I just had something I needed to take care of, I didn't think it would take so long. Sorry for disappearing at the mall, I didn't mean to scare you," I apologized.

She hugged me, "Oh, it's fine, as long as you're safe."

"How's Kenny?" I asked.

She bit her lip, "We don't know."

I scrunched my eyebrows, "But I thought he woke up, and he came back home after you guys found out he had amnesia."

"Why would you think that?" her voice was a little scratchy.

"Isn't that what happened? Why is it so dark in here?" I felt around for the light switch.

"Kenny's gone," she whispered.

I froze, "What do you mean, he's gone?"

"He disappeared from the hospital. The security video ended before we could see what happened. They weren't blocked or broken, but somehow someone managed to erase their self completely," she explained, her voice beginning to crack.

"But, they must have some sort of record of who went in to see him," my mouth was dry.

"Gone. We did find someone in his room, though," she drove through, barely holding together.

_'Now get to LaRousse, I'll take care of Kenny,'_ oh no, "Who were they?"

"It was a girl your age, fourteen. She had dark hair and her bangs were different colors. She was rather pale, but we think that's just from the fact that she was half dead when we found her. The police did a facial recognition scan, but no one showed up. It was like she didn't exist. They even did DNA scans, but they couldn't give us a name. She was immediately taken to a police station, and we don't know what happened to her. She just disappeared, they didn't even take her to a hospital," she finally broke into sobs

I hugged her, "I'm so sorry."

What had I done? First Kenny, now Rubia. How did this all happen?

* * *

Rubia's POV

Upon arrival of the prison, they disabled my social networks and ability to communicate on my electronic devices. How could they see through my brilliant plan. You're probably thinking I'm in some normal prison, or something for minors. Congratulations if you expected me to be in the most high security prison the pokemon world has to offer: Twist Mountain Prison. It was a huge metal fortress at least eight stories high with all kinds of cameras and watch towers with guns all over the place. The tunnel to get in was just big enough for a tank, but closes off as soon as you get past it. I had three female guards and five male guards, so I couldn't help but smile. Seriously, what had they heard about me for them to have eight well trained, armed guards on a fourteen year old? I wasn't going to try escaping until after I got the whole experience, I don't see why they're so worried. We walked down a steel corridor, each cell marked my a light colored metal door with a tiny window for a food tray and a number engraved on it.

I was wearing a prison uniform, gray, loose, thin pants and T-shirt made of some kind of rougher fabric, and sneakers of your choice(Converse for the win). They took all jewelry and accessories, but they left me my fingerless gloves, which I was eternally grateful for.

"So, what can I expect these cells to be like? Top notch, I suppose. Do you do a whole gender separation thing here?" I babbled on. These people were terrible conversationalists.

They stopped at room 221 B, and opened the door, taking off the hand cuffs, "To answer your question, yes. You're just a special case, for some reason Looker was very insistent on your cell mate to be him."

"Thank you, see you later?" I coldly remarked as I was shoved in the room, door slammed behind me,"So, looks like-" I turned and gaped when I saw my prison mate was, "What the freaking Darkrai are you doing here?!"

"I could ask you the same thing, Rubianna," N replied.

"Don't call me Rubianna, for the last time!" I quipped, "Now, answer the question."

"I turned myself in," he remarked nonchalantly.

"You turned yourself in?! What were you thinking?!" I questioned.

"I'm not sure how, but you most likely know that I was King of Team Plasma," he began.

"Was is the key word in that sentence! Don't pretend like you haven't changed since then, I don't freaking care what Looker said, you should-"

"Pay for what I did," he finished.

"Darn you for being so dang _noble,_" I groaned.

He raised an eyebrow, "Thank you?"

"Anytime," I waved it of, sitting against the wall.

"Are you going to answer the question now?" he checked.

"You know _exactly_ why I'm here, and no, the main reason isn't that I accidentally got one of our classmates possessed. For that, they would just put me in a witness protection program," I snapped.

"I would like to hear the answer from you," he admitted.

"Long story short, I broke into a secret government lab and stole Mewtwo, then used him to break a friend out of prison. Oh! Let's not forget committing treason and being an ex-secret agent that has information that could potentially ruin everything this world has done," my voice stared getting higher like it does when I'm really angry

"Sounds complicated," he commented.

"Oh, and not to mention my old partner went on a journey with my cousin, and my other cousin is the daughter of the person who runs the secret agency and lied to me about my entire life! Oh, and the person I broke out happened to be my home economics partner in my new school, then _turned himself in_. Hey, didn't I also know him from a mission when I went undercover as a trainer who took on the Unova league? Yeah! And my freakin' code name is White! Best part, the guy _doesn't even seem to remember or care_!" I burst._  
_

I hadn't even realized that I had stood up, but I was now standing about a foot away from him. And he looked thoroughly shocked, "You're-"

"Yes! And I'm seriously wondering how you couldn't tell! I almost told you so many dang times, and-"

"Why didn't you?" he asked.

"Did you not just hear what I said? If I told you, someone would find out, and they'd take you, and me, and then do you know what would happen?" I answered in a more quiet voice.

"What?" he checked.

"They would turn you against yourself, and force you to do things through false promises. And me, honestly, they've done just about everything possible to forge me into their weapon," I smiled, "Yeah, they made me a little too good."

"Why?"

"I don't know, some people have twisted minds," I guessed. Noticing I was still incredibly close to him, as discretely as possible made a more less awkward amount of space between us.

"I suppose that is true," he sat down on his bed/slab of metal.

Was I telling the truth? Maybe.

* * *

This was chapter 31, before I squished old chapters together.

That-girl-from-outer-space6, you have quite a while to wait for your ship to come true. I have to have something to bribe my friend(you know who you are) with.

Eeveemaster7, you get a cookie for getting the reference! Yas, much cruelty. ;)

BlazikenForever, well, on the bright side, I don't describe the injuries as much as possible. :D

SORRY FOR THE LATENESS! DX


	25. Chapter 32

I put some of the shorter old chapters together, so this is the chapter after 31, which got moved to 24 in case you're confused.

* * *

Drew's POV

Instead of going back to May's right away, I confronted my aunt.

"Where is Tabitha, and what's m parent's last invention?" I glared.

She looked slightly cross, "And just who have you heard of these things from?"

"Oh, just the people who kidnapped Tabitha, May, and me," I replied sarcastically.

She sighed, "Tabitha is in your mother's old room. Right before your parents died, they perfected human cloning."

"Were my parents killed?" I ended.

Her eyes grew colder, "That's enough questions for one day, don't you agree?"

I glared at her one more time before sprinting off to my mom's room.

I flung open the door and saw my little sister, pale and frozen, still in her Nerve Gear. Worst of all was the feeling of guilt that washed over me.

I knelt down by her bed and held her hand, "Arceus, Tabitha, you had to be stuck in a game even after SAO was defeated."

I heard someone come in, but I didn't react at all. I felt someone kneel down next to me and lean their head on my shoulder.

Slightly surprised, I checked to see it was May.

"No one should face these things alone," she whispered.

"Then why aren't you with Dawn?" I croaked.

"Because you just saw something no one should ever have to see in real life. I know how I would feel if that was my little brother, even if he is a little annoying. Dawn, Dawn has his parents and her mom, and everyone else that knew him. But you only have yourself and a relative that wouldn't even tell you, and you shouldn't have to face this alone," she explained.

My mouth was dry, "Thank you, May."

"You don't need to thank me. After all, isn't that what a girlfriend is supposed to do?" she shook her head.

"What? You-"

"I was just waiting for my dad to give the okay," she cut me off.

Finally, something good happens.

* * *

Rubia's POV

Today was a big, big day! We would all get to go out in the prison yard and meet our new buddies! Yay!

I mean, nothing not to be excited about, they're all criminals and at least four years older than me! If I'm lucky, a few people I got put in here would recognize me and attack on sight. Oh joy.

On the bright side, I have N? Not sure if that works. Actually, him being there would probably restrain me from doing anything too dumb. He seems to do that without noticing.

So, we were just sitting across from each other on our beds, him staring straight at something right past me, and me looking at my gloved hands, playing with my fingers in my lap. Just one more minute.

"So, what's it like out there with all of them?" I asked, breaking the awkward silence.

"I only came here a few days before you, this is my first time as well," he explained.

"So, should we stick together?" I checked.

"I don't see a better option," he agreed.

"You could at least try to sound like you enjoy my company," I mumbled.

"It was supposed to be a compliment, but it didn't turn out right, did it?" he admitted.

"Not really, but thanks for the effort," I half smiled.

"What are you tracing?" he pointed to my hands.

I looked down at them and realized I was tracing a pattern on them, then a loud, shrill bell rang through the prison and our doors were unlocked. I popped up and grabbed his wrist, "Just in case you try to leave me behind."

He stood up and we left the room, flowing with the rest of the crowd. Pretty much all of the people were at least a good four inches taller than me, so I was a little bit worried that they'd all run over me without noticing.

The prison yard itself was roughly the size of a large football field, probably larger, and surrounded by ten story high walls, with nothing to get a grip on. There were tons of us, some arm wrestling, a few flirts, some in dark corners with rattata for company, and some just talking. No matter who they were, they all seemed to take some sort of an interest in N and me. Can't imagine why, but it was making me very edgy. So, instead of letting it show, I smiled brightly and looked most of them in the eye. I probably looked like I was utterly insane now, but no one ever messes with those they presume to be driven by insanity.

So, here I was, dragging around a boy a fair bit taller than me, but now less so now that I've had my growth spurt, grinning like an idiot in a room full of highly dangerous criminals, when I saw someone I really wouldn't mind dying. Needless to say, the smile fell.

I could feel N tense up as said man walked over, beaming at us. Freakin' Ghetsis was _smiling_ at us. As if we actually had mutual feelings other than hatred!

"My boy, so glad you stayed loyal to Team Plasma in the end," he greeted, blatantly ignoring me. I do not do ignoring.

"We are all aware that you were using all of the members including myself to gain power, there would be nothing to stay loyal to even if that was my choice," he replied coolly, "But I still have to pay the price for my actions."

Ghetsis, why can't you read people? "You can't blame a man for trying to make a difference."

"It's quite simple depending on the goal," he replied.

The man jostled me out of the way and put an arm around his former foster son, "But now we're back together, and that's what matters, eh?"

Says the man who called him warped, defective, and unworthy of being his son. But _no one_ pushes me. Ever. N calmly tried to get out of the situation, but that in turn, made it worse.

"Excuse me," I popped in(hopefully) politely, "I'm pretty sure it would be better if you let go of him."

"Pardon me, but who are you?" he asked. He looked at a very uncomfortable N, then back at trying not to attack him me, "Ahh, I see. You've got yourself a girl. You could do much better, you know. But if this is who you want, that's your choice, "

Every part of me just exploded, but all they could see was my left eye twitch.

It was all over for him.

I snatched his ear, twisted and pulled viciously, tearing him away, then pushing him to the ground. I was just about to generously add to his pain when someone caught my wrist.

"He's not worth it," he stated, wordlessly telling me to back away for my own benefit.

"I know, but that's not the point. The point is that you are," I muttered under my breath. I backed off, regardless of how badly I wanted to smash his face into the dirt.

"You little swinub!" Ghetsis spat.

"Don't," N urged.

"I wasn't," I replied.

"Wait, you're that girl from two years ago!" he realized, "You have a new look and name, in fact, you even changed your voice some, but I'd recognize you anywhere."

"Congratulations, you've accomplished what no one else has," I glared, "Your point?"

"How did you get here? And why didn't N stay more than a day last time he was?" he asked.

"Have fun guessing," I responded sarcastically.

"You broke the twit out of prison, didn't you? Oh, you bad girl White, you just couldn't let him go. I told you he didn't have a human heart, and yet here you both are," Ghetsis smiled, "Two of the worst pieces of filth, together again at last, quite-"

I'm sure you'd all love to know what that - you know, I don't want to insult anyone or anything by comparing him to it - would say, but we'll never know now that I've punched him in the jaw, will we?

"Shut. Up," I almost introduced him to my other fist when yet again, N caught my wrist. I dropped my arm and turned towards him, "Sorry you had to see that."

"You _child_, you have no idea what you have got yourself into!" the man who had met my fist rambled.

"Yeah y- ahhh!" someone had come from behind and crushed my left hand, pinning it between my shoulder blades. They closed their fist fully around mine, bones going in directions they _really _shouldn't. The person adjusted their grip and started crushing my hand at different angles. At this point, I was literally the center of attention. No way I'm getting more people - Arceus that really hurts! - involved. I gasped in pain as I thought up something. I smiled as I kicked my leg backwards, hard. I had no idea where I hit, but he collapsed in a fetal position, if that helps. I looked around at the crowd that had gathered, still smiling. A few people looked like they were going to help. To stop the fight, help me, or help the thug, I have no clue.

"As you were," I commanded confidently. I crouched down by the man, and pulled him up by his hair, "I would think your actions through rather than trusting someone like Ghetsis. I would offer to help you, but at this point, there really isn't anything I could do."

I turned back and a decent amount of the crowd had dispersed. There were a few people still there, like N, and a few others smiling broadly towards me.

One was a muscled dark skinned woman with her short hair in a high ponytail, one was a mousy brunette with blue eyes, and one was a tall, skinny, pale, thin man with very light blond hair.

"I have observed that you know how to handle yourself, young lady, even among larger, stronger, and more intelligent adults," the thin one commented.

"Yeah, not my first time in these sort of situations," I shrugged.

"Obviously, you had that guy cryin' for his mama!" the ponytail one pointed out, "The name's Wolf," she offered her hand.

"I'm White," I shook her hand, smiling, "What did you get here for?"

"I was a kidnapper, I've had quite a few higher ups under my wing," she smiled back, "The little one's Maple, she got here for stealing some pretty valuable information that 'doesn't exist.'"

"And I'm know as Alph, arrested for arson," he offered his hand, which I took as well.

"What did you set on fire that got you here?" I asked.

"The prison, the courthouse, and the evidence. Twice," he gave me a crooked grin.

Okay then, I'll need to keep an eye on him, "That's one way to get out. But what did you set on fire to have you set those on fire?"

"I was breaking someone out, then I did it again to save myself," he explained.

"That's one way to do it," I agreed.

N was now by my side, observing the interaction.

"And he's-"

I was cut off, "We _all_ know who he is, it would be impossible not to. At least, for those of us here."

"After all, he _is _Natural Harmonia Gropius. His hair makes him quite recognizable," Wolf laughed, "He sure does remind me of Rose and Flynn."

"What do you mean?" N asked.

"You mean to tell us you don't know? Those are the names of your parents," Alph added.

"Oh," he replied.

"But the real question, is why are you here? You made quite the debut, and you seem to be pretty close to Natural," Alph asked.

"It's a long story if you really want to understand," I warned them.

"We've got time," Wolf shrugged, "Let's hear it. In exchange, we'll help you out."

"Okay then. Well, it starts when I was six," I began.

* * *

_It was all sunny and bright that Tuesday afternoon. I was coming back from my friend Alexandria's house on my own, which was a huge deal for me at the time. I didn't understand why mom and dad wanted me to, but they gave me a key and everything. I was super proud, I felt like the key was some sort of ring of power, so I never let it out of my sight._

_This particular day when I came home, no one was there. Not a single thing suggested that someone had been there. I even checked the call log, there hadn't been any calls in or out all day. But it didn't look like something bad happened, so I just let it go, although as a six year old, I was still pretty scared._

_I started hearing this voice, it was a woman's and sickly sweet. She was saying things about how I must be so, so, cold and lonely in the still, quiet house. How I must be so bored, and I needed something to warm me to the bone. How she would take care of me. Now I was absolutely terrified, and I even came close to tears._

_I'll never forget what she said, "Don't cry just yet, you'll need all the water you have once I get you all nice and toasty, don't be scared, I'll keep you right there, and you'll be just fine, okay darling? Rubianna dear, don't fight me or run, because then I'll get cold too, I'll freeze to death. So stay right there, and you'll be mine forever."_

_Either out of stupidity, curiosity, or bravery, I ran to the kitchen and hid myself under the table, too horrified to cry._

_"Oh, you bad girl. You've been very naughty, and now I'm cross. We were going to be together forever, my dear, sweet, Rubianna, but now we can't. They're going to get you, and I can't do a thing. Every time you move, it'll be another step closer, you can't get away anymore," she told me._

_I needed comfort, and I needed it now. __So, I ran to my room and hugged my stuffed dolls, crying into them._

_She started singing, "I remember tears streaming down your face when I said I'll never let you go."_

_ Eventually my door creaked open a tiny bit, and I stopped, dead silent._

_"Just close your eyes, the sun is going down," she continued._

_I heard a hissing, and little flecks of orange starting to come in view, shrouded by thick, dark, air. It slithered onto the carpet and galloped towards me._

_She went onto the second verse, "Don't you dare look out your window, darling, everything's on fire."_

_I shielded my doll, the one my sister Emma made and Damien drew on, the one mom had helped me make accessories for and dad had retrieved from all the places I left it, and the one that I wouldn't let get hurt._

_"Just close your eyes, the sun is going down, you'll be alright, no one can hurt you now," she was finishing it, but I could barely hear her voice over the flames snickering, always mocking me. _

_I looked out the window, tearing my eyes away. It was a blizzard, you could barely see anything. I knew that if I could open the window, I might just have a chance._

_I tried, I really did. But I couldn't. I had always been much weaker than the other children, and having the body of a six year old didn't help. _

_I curled up in a ball, crying into my doll, hacking from the smoke, the air like poison._

_Then, I have to assume I blacked out, because what happened next was such a drastic difference in scenery._

_I was in some sort of old science lab with horrid lighting, my ankles tied to large metal spheres and my wrists bolted down to the table with a strip of metal. There was a man and a woman both in some sort of disguise sitting at the table as well, playing a card game._

_"Oh look, the little rattata woke up after all," the woman mused._

_"Morning, how do you feel?" the man asked, neither of them looking up from their game._

_I didn't talk, I couldn't, I didn't understand why either. But my back was in searing pain, always burning, but I couldn't tell what was wrong other than it hurt more than anything ever had before._

_"Think she can still talk?" the woman asked._

_"If we give her the right subject, little kids will talk about just anything. What's your favorite color?" he shrugged._

_I stared blankly at the cards, memorizing the pattern and what had been played._

_"She's probably in shock, we'll have to loosen those lips of hers eventually if she won't, otherwise we might lose ours," the woman replied._

_"Maybe if we're kind to her she'll open up to us," he snorted._

_"Stop pretending like you're the nice one, I'm good cop, remember?" she flicked his head._

_"If only we were cops," he smiled._

_It went on like that for a very long time. They left one at a time, coming back with food, water, or just to use the restroom. They fed me and gave me water to drink, but I still only looked blankly at the cards and spoke nothing to them. It went on like that for a week, I think. I'm not really sure._

_But after that week, my uncle broke in and got me out, explaining that my parents disappeared, and my siblings were safe, but I had no home to go to. He told me that I could be safe and help him with his job, I accepted,_

_That's how I became a secret agent. The best one, in fact. I got stronger, but I didn't start talking until an exact year from when I was taken. Then, after a few years, I found out the truth about my parents. My uncle ordered their execution, and he killed one of my closest friends from the agency. I was sent on a solo mission that would last a year in case I found out too much, and that's how I met N. He was practically my mission, to befriend him. I thought it was a little silly, but when I met him, I actually really liked him. Not in a romantic way, but as friends. Not at first, but as I got to know him we became friends in a way._

_Then I learned some dark secrets no one should know, and what they were planning on doing with him. So I became a traitor, and when that didn't turn out so well, I stole a pokemon to break him out of prison. I was in hiding for two years, but I tried to help someone recently. They got possessed, and I got here._

* * *

"So, that's my story," I finished.

Wolf whistled, "That's rough. So, you found out top secret info, then became a traitor to save someone? Not what I would have done, but oh well."

"Ah, so you must be slightly discomforted by me," Alph assumed.

"When did you learn this secret?" Maple spoke for the first time. She had a higher voice.

"Two years ago, why?" I asked.

"Just curious," she replied.

"Well, looks like you two are joining us then!" Wolf grinned, "Unless you'd rather us tell the whole prison who your uncle is. I believe I know a few people who are here because of you."

"Okay. If I break out without you guys, I'll be sure to come back for tea. N?" I smiled back.

"I'm not sure if I should trust you," he admitted to them.

"Fine with us, being around people doesn't have to do squat with trusting them. Quite honestly, I wouldn't trust you or your girl," Wolf shrugged.

"I am not anybody's! I am my own person!" I objected.

"Sure, what ever you want to believe," she rolled her eyes.

"I'll think about it," N decided.

"Then I'll wait too!" I agreed.

"You are your own person, huh?" she mumbled.

I glared at her, but neither of us could hold it long before laughing.

"White, we should be going now," N suggested.

I nodded, "See you guys next time!"

Looker would be so proud.

* * *

That-girl-from-outer-space6, Kenny? Oh, him. Heh, heh, you'll learn eventually, but you'll probably not be so happy. But this chapter was longer!

BlzikenForever, Misty's perfectly fine. I could never _actually _kill off one of my favorite characters!

Eeveemaster7, I'm thinking about writing a whole separate story after this one that resolves everything with Drew, becuase there is just so much plot right now, and so much is new. But I'm excited you're excited.

Won't be updating as much from here on out, school work and school and such. DX I actually put off school to do this much, so I really should get back to it.

Have a FANTASTIC week, my readers!


	26. Chapter 33

Dawn's POV

_Dear Diary,_

_Today will be two things for me, Christmas and the start of my journey to find Kenny. I decided to stay with Kenny's parents until after Christmas dinner to brighten things up for all of us. My mom called, but she didn't try to stop me or bring me back to Cerulean, which I'm grateful for. I miss her, though I'll probably never tell her that. I miss how we used to have Christmas, just the two of us. Well, that started after I was three, when my dad disappeared. My mom never talked about him, so he could be dead for all I know. I feel like it's my fault he's gone, I heard about him from the neighbors and said that after I was born he started acting strangely. I still have some trouble every now and then accepting that I couldn't have done anything even if I had wanted to. _

_But I'm determined to find Kenny, seeing what his absence has been like for his parents and based on my feelings alone, it's like I don't even have a choice. When I find him, I'm going to tell him, amnesia or not. I've practically memorized the poem he wrote, which only makes sense considering that I look at it at least five times a day. I haven't shown his parents yet, I don't think they should know about this in case . . . until I bring him back. I doubt his mom could handle it, I'm not sure about his dad though. All I know is that I'm having a hard enough time handling it on my own. I still blame myself for all of this, no matter how many times someone says it's not my fault. I blame myself for Rubia, Kenny, my dad, and all the terrible events inbetween_

_Not so merry Christmas,_

_Dawn_

I checked the clock on the stand in the guest room. Seven in the morning, time to go downstairs. I slipped on my buneary slippers and shuffled down to the living room, stretching and yawning. I looked and saw a hastily made stocking with my name on it in pink, glittery, puffy paint. I smiled and curled up on the blue suede like couch, letting my thoughts run around my head.

I felt a hand on my shoulder, "Dawn?"

I looked up, "Good morning, Mrs. Smith," I greeted Kenny's mom.

She smiled at me, a sad gleam in her eyes, "Merry Christmas, go ahead and check you stocking."

Mr. Smith was slumped back on a cushy chair, his glasses askew on his face. He had fallen back asleep as soon as he sat in it.

I grabbed my stocking and sat down, looking through the contents. There were around ten packs of bubble gum(something I was absolutely addicted to throughout elementary), a key chain with little pokemon figures on it, their house key attatched, a new pokegear cover(my old one was shredded), and a pair of pink daisy earrings.

I hugged Kenny's parents, "You guys didn't have to buy anything for me, really."

"We only bought some of it, your old friends in TwinLeaf got you the gum, a girl named Misty sent you the pokegear cover, and another girl named May sent you the earrings," she beamed, "And we have some other presents from your mother and a few other people here for you as well."

I grinned back, "Well, I got you guys a few things as well!"

"Really, Dawn, we've told you not to get us gifts," Mr. Smith reminded, waking up from his nap.

"You're pretty much family, so it only makes sense to get you something, no need to worry!" I bounced up, "Let me go get them!" I scuttled to my room, grabbed the two boxes, and ran back, placing one in each of their laps.

Mrs. Smith opened hers first, her hands flying up to her mouth, "A tea set? But this must have been expensive!"

I shrugged, "I felt really bad about breaking your old one in second grade, so when I saw this on sale, I had to get it."

Mr. Smith broke into a grin, "Good choice."

It was several boxes of chocolates, I remembered his outrageously ridiculous sweet tooth from last year when Kenny had tried to give me chocolates, but his dad ate every last one of them.

"Now, go grab your presents from under the tree," she encouraged.

I picked a green one and read the tag, 'From Leaf, Gary wants to take some credit because he was too cheap to get anyone presents, so I guess him too.' I opened it to find a cute pink dress with a white sash around the waist and white sleeves.

Since Mr. and Mrs. Smith were passing presents to each other, I went ahead and opened more of mine. A pair of shoes I had been wanting from my mom, and a happiny from Ash.

"Dawn? There's someone at the door for you," Mr. Smith called.

Wondering who it was, I walked to the front door.

It was a Serena and Calem.

"Oh, hi guys," I greeted, a little confused.

"You guys can come in and talk with her in her room, if you like," Mr. Smith offered.

"Thanks," they both stepped in, following me to my room.

I sat on my bed, and they closed the door behind them.

"So, what brings you here?" I asked.

"Have you heard that Rubia disappeared?" Calem started.

"Yeah," I nodded.

"Well, we know that you're the last person she talked to before she vanished," Serena confirmed, "So we were wondering if you knew anything."

I blinked, "But didn't you two have a fight or something on the last day?"

She looked stunned, and suddenly cautious, "What are you talking about?"

"Well, she was super touchy when I saw her and you weren't there. She said it was complicated," I recited.

"When did you see her?" she interrogated, now sitting next to me.

"I don't know, after lunch?" I shrugged.

She looked into my eyes for a moment, then sighed, "I don't get it."

"Huh?" I felt like an idiot.

"She. . . Well, she - I got a little out of hand, and she actually talked to you afterward. To be honest, we weren't expecting her to talk to anyone for a week or two," Serena admitted.

"Serena got mad and left school early for vacation because of it, but when I caught up with her, she was turning right back around," Calem smiled slightly.

"But when I got to our room, Rubia wasn't there," Serena groaned, "I asked everyone! Well, that I could find anyway."

"In short, we want to make sure she's okay," Calem ended.

"Wait, what was the fight about?" I paused.

"Um. . ." Serena's ears were pink, "You answer our question, then we'll answer yours!"

"She was abducted half dead from lying on the floor in an intensive care room by the police to who knows where, and her name couldn't be found by facial recognition scans or DNA sampling," I summarized, "Now, talk."

"She was spacing out again, and she started mumbling things, like, 'Why hasn't it happened yet?' and, 'I'm beginning to have regrets for once.' So, I asked her what the heck she was talking about. Then she mumbled, 'Why aren't you and Calem together yet? My calculations match up so that everything occurs in a precise order, and the battle is in around an hour and a half.' If you can imagine, I had a reaction," her ears were pretty red.

"Yeah, she almost flipped the lunch table, but instead she did a spit take all over Trevor and stood up yelling interesting comments at her. No one had a clue what was going on," Calem smirked.

"So, he tried to calm me down, but I ignored him completely," she continued.

"I don't think slapping counts as complete ignoring," he interrupted.

"Close enough, anyway, she just looked up at me and said, 'It already happened then, I was right,' and I exploded completely on her. I forget what I said-"

"I'm pretty sure it was when you yelled, 'You're either bribing or blackmailing the school to get information for your precious matchmaking! You know everyone's pressure points be evaluating them like we're some kind of experiment, it's sick, like we're beneath you!'" he shrugged.

"Oh, yeah," Serena looked guilty and mad at herself, "To that all she had to say was, 'Then why would I still be here? If I'm so above you, why am I still here, taking all the hits? Why haven't I just taken you down or cried for a teacher to save me from this? Why am I letting you continue? If you see me as I scientist, I am the kindest one you'll ever have, because I actually care. But you don't believe me, because of mistrust, hatred, you trusted Calem, and now you suspect he's betrayed you, so you're taking it out on me. I will gladly take the hits, because it's better than watching.'

"She said it so calmly, and I just couldn't handle that. So I told her, 'I know he wouldn't betray me, but I've never been sure about you! You've always been distant, full of secrets you guard so closely that not even the teachers know your middle name, family, hometown, or pokemon. You've done things that go directly against what we thought of you, like trying to run away and coming back dripping in blood, and I'm pretty sure not all of it was even yours, flipping a kid for flirting, and don't even get me started on _him._ Don't act like you don't know who I'm talking about, Rubia. You've done all sorts of things that involve that person that defies any explanation, even from him.' She got really harsh and cold after that."

"She practically brought down the temperature of the room below freezing with the look she gave her and how she held herself. She said, 'You do not want to say another word. I'm telling you this now, before I lose it, because I don't want to do it.' Serena didn't listen though, she replied in just about the worst possible way, 'Should I be scared? Are you going to attack me like Calem and Gary? Should I be scared of the monster that's finally coming out of her cave and into the light? Should I be scared because I know something she won't admit to herself?' Rubia just simply responded with, 'You should be scared, but not of me, of yourself. Which monster is really coming out into the light of day? I hate exposing you in front of your boyfriend, don't act so surprised, I know you've been secretly dating, but I don't want to do that,'" Calem narrated.

"Wait, you guys were secretly dating?" I paused.

"It's not a secret anymore, apparently. I pulled what I believe may have been the last straw, 'You know what, I think I've found out why you're so invested in everyone else's love lives, because you'll never have one of your own, you'll never even have a normal life. You'll never be brave or strong or caring enough to step out of hiding and face the music. You'll never admit one thing to yourself, that you've been in love with N this entire time, and that all the crap that's been going on in this school is caused by you. You ruin everything as soon as you look at it, you can't even have friends you actually care about. You don't trust us, you lie, you manipulate everyone to go along with your sick soap opera, and you act all sweet and innocent. You're always the victim, even when you're the one who hurts them in the end,'" Serena repeated, "'I hate you, I wish you didn't exist, go run to our room and wither for all I care.'"

"What she ended with worried me, 'You aren't the first to want me to die, and you won't be the last. But look at me, I'm still here. I don't want a love life, and a normal life ended for me eight years ago. But since I am clearly unwanted here, I'll leave, I don't want to cause any more pain than I already have,' then she stood up, and walked away. Trevor and Tireno tried to talk to her, and Shauna wasn't there, but it didn't work. She didn't talk to anyone. We literally tried everything, but she wasn't anywhere. Then, the other day, we were going to check up on her at work, but she was gone. Everyone said that she just left after talking to a girl with dark blue hair, and disappeared," Calem sighed.

"Since she was pretty good friends with N, why didn't you just ask him?" I asked.

"He disappeared too," Serena admitted, "We're clueless. We don't know anything about her past besides that for some reason she hates fire, scared of water, knows a variety of martial arts, and has a really bad history with formal dancing with a partner. Also, she never takes her gloves off. Even for swimming, she has special gloves."

"You guys are her best friends, don't you even know her hobbies or anything? Like where she lives?" I went further.

"No, we barely know anything about her. Heck, we don't know her favorite color," Calem groaned, "We really sucked as friends, didn't we?"

"Well, sorry. I don't know anything more than you do," I apologized.

"Actually, you helped. If she disappeared with the police, and as far as we know has done nothing wrong, they probably put her in a witness protection program. After all, she got attacked a lot at school by people that no one knew," Calem thought.

"Attacked?" I blinked, "Why did anyone attack her?"

"We have no idea, just sometimes she would come into our room with bruises and cuts. She hid them pretty well though, but one time she walked into lunch with a split lip," Serena shrugged.

"Well, thanks, Dawn. Merry Christmas," they both stood up and left.

I walked back to the living room, "Sorry about that," I apologized.

"It's fine, something came for you. A redhead who said her name was Aurora said another girl named Rubia wanted you to have it," Mr. Smith tossed me a box.

Shocked, I struggled to catch it, then read the card, 'Sorry, I really suck at making judgments. If you want to know what happened to Kenny, he was possessed by Mewtwo, who knocked me out before he ran off. I'm really sorry, it's all my fault. I don't know where he is, but I'm sure you could research it and find a place. My fault, Rubia.'

I unwrapped the paper nervously, not sure what to expect.

* * *

No one seems to have read last chapter, from what I can see from reviews. Seriously, I think I threw you guys off when I combined a bunch of chapters. When I post chapter thirty two, I'm going to have to tell everyone to go back so they won't be majorly confused.

Thanks to you, my wonderful readers!


	27. Chapter 34

Rubia's POV

I sat on my bed, N pacing around after the guards slammed the door shut. To be honest, I wasn't sure what to expect. I was a little nervous, I had just punched his foster father in the face, and even though it was a certain person who will remain unnamed, it may have been a little. . . Uncomfortable for him. He did warn me not to do anything, but my crushed hand was evidence of my stupidity.

"You could have been seriously injured," he finally broke the silence.

I'll admit, I was a little surprised. It was a very obvious, yet somehow strange comment.

"Did you think of that?" he asked.

"Well, before I started talking to him, yes," I tried.

"Why did you do it?" he sat down across from me, chin resting on his knuckles.

"It was going to happen eventually," he looked slightly skeptical, "And I really, _really_, wanted to be the one to do it. I hate people like him. With a _passion_."

"It seems he feels the same way," he pointed at my hand, "How bad is it?"

"From what I can feel, throbbing. And pain, but, that's usually associated with throbbing, and I don't really want to look at it," I admitted.

He sat down next to me, "Let me see it."

I hesitantly offered my hand to him. He lightly took it, pain shooting back from my fingertips. I winced slightly.

"Where does it hurt most?" he asked.

"Kinda, I don't know, everywhere!" I squeaked.

He sighed and reached for the edge of my glove. I yanked my hand away, panicked. He looked up at me, "I need to actually see all the damage."

I jerked my head back and forth.

"Just take it off," he requested.

"No," I disagreed, "One does not just take off her gloves."

"What does that mean?" he raised an eyebrow.

"It means _no_," I explained with wide eyes.

"Please, White," I glared at him, "_Rubia_, I need to check to see how bad it is."

I thought about it. First off, because he called me by both of my names, and did not use my full name. Second off, he said please. It is the magic word(other than avada kadavra, but that's not the point), after all. But, on the other hand, that would mean trusting him. Then there would be less secrets. I'm not sure whether or not that's a good thing.

"Rubia, what didn't you tell us?" he looked in my eyes, "You're hiding something very big, and you've been hiding it in plain sight ever since I met you."

I bit my lip, "And you're the first to ask."

"Will I be the first to find out?" he asked.

Will he? No. Why not? I'll fall apart. I'll have to explain what it means, and I won't be able to do that. Then what are you going to do? You can't just flat out say no, you need to have at least a feeling of trust for it to work. What to work? I have no idea what you're talking about. I forgot, I guess. Where was I? Oh, yes! What are we going to do? It might be good to fall apart in front of someone, it may make them feel protective or pitying of you, perhaps even mercy or care. But it shows weakness, so much vulnerability.

Didn't you make yourself vulnerable the moment you used your name? How about the time you ran away? Or when you did the one thing you told yourself you'd never do, but did it _twice_?

Weren't you vulnerable when you trusted Serena, Calem, Trevor, Tireno, and Shauna to be friends? When you showed Dawn Mewtwo?

What's a little more vulnerability going to hurt? How will it help?

Stop thinking like an analyst and a computer, and more like the fourteen year old you are. Do you trust him or not?

"Yes," I nodded.

* * *

Dawn's POV

I opened the box, to find some strange different colored rectangles, seventeen in all. Underneath that was a map with different markings on it, some in light purple, others in gray. But the last thing was a little recording, something I'd have to look at later.

The rest of the day was pretty simple, watching Christmas movies, playing games, and eating sweets and other rich food.

At about ten at night, I was sprawled out on my mattress, bags packed for me to start my search. I was taking a few minutes to breathe, knowing I wouldn't find much time to relax while I was on the road.

"Dawn? There are more people here for you, they're saying that they're going to come with you," Mrs. Smith called.

I sat up, what was going on?

I hurried to the front door to see Misty, Ash, and Leaf, "What?"

"Can we come in?" Leaf asked.

"Yeah! Gary just went inside without asking," Ash grumbled.

"What are you talking about?" I raised an eyebrow.

"Your observation skills are impressive, you didn't even see us," a voice mocked.

"Us?" I turned towards the voice to see May, Drew, and Gary sitting around the kitchen table.

"Hi Dawn! How was Christmas?" May piped, waving.

"You guys can get out of the snow now," Gary smirked.

"You can't just walk into people's houses like that and invite other people in!" Leaf stepped inside, taking off her coat.

"You say as you make yourself at home," Drew remarked as she slouched onto a couch.

"Well, if Gary's in there, I wanna be too!" Ash decided, following the brunette in.

Misty sighed, "Sometimes I wonder how much they think through what they say."

"You can come in, I guess," I invited, stepping aside.

"Thanks," she shed her jacket as well before joining Leaf on the couch.

"Wait, why are all of you here? And how did you know where I was? _And how did you get in the house without me noticing?_" I held up my hands, looking around for answers.

"I'd think that would be obvious," a new voice appeared, "We're here to help you find Kenny. I mean, at least I am. May may have come to eat all your ramen and be a friend in your time of need, Drew might be following her because he has no one else and her family scares him. Leaf and and Gary are possibly here because believe it or not, Gary feels guilty, you can ask him why, and Leaf wants to help her friends, because her friends and her pokemon are everything to her. Ash is fiercely loyal to his friends, and he hates seeing them in pain, and Misty feels like she needs to support you. Wait, never mind, all of those make my point more obvious. I'm here because, well, yeah."

"Who is this?" I interrogated.

They all gave the person strange looks, "She didn't come with us."

She smiled broadly, "Just call me Leyenda Neibla. Actually, I also respond to Psychotic Psychic or Little Miss Psychic, Psychotic, Nurse, Garynite. Or Mistress of- you know, just call me Leyenda, short for either Leyenda de Zelda, or Leyenda Neibla. I would have brought along a certain person, but for some reason, they disappeared. Well, not that you could see him anyway. And he does exist, this time I'm not making someone up. It just really seems like it because no one else can see him. But he's not here, I think he went with him considering he's his ancestor. I suppose this makes no sense, but oh well!"

We all stared at her.

"Yeah, you can just pretend none of this actually happened. Just pretend like I'm not here, ignore everything I say," she rolled her wrists, "Please do. I don't exist. Know what? I'm just going to leave now. Nice meeting you all, Dawn, Misty, May, Leaf, Gary, Drew, and Ash. Oh, and thanks to you as well, Mr. and Mrs. Smith. I hope you all find him soon!" She left.

"Okay, who knows who she is?" I shut the door, leaning against it.

"Well, she had the same hair color as Mist," Ash shrugged.

"But it was a lot thicker and longer than hers is, not to mention curlier and messier. I think she was also paler," Leaf pointed out.

"And she said something about being a Garynite, does anyone know what that is?" Drew checked.

"I've heard of a Pokemon Master named Blair Garynite and another Professor's name in a different region is Redwood Garynite," Gary supplied.

"Well, if you break it down, it kinda sounds like, 'Gary's Knight,' or, 'Gary Night!'" May noted.

"Yeah!" Ash agreed enthusiastically.

We all sweat-dropped.

We all heard muffled laughter that came from none of us.

"Did anyone else hear that?" Misty checked.

"I bet it's that crazy red head from a few minutes ago," Ash groaned, "Who is she?"

"Well, she did tell us to ignore her because she 'doesn't exist'," Gary put in air quotes.

"But how does she know so much about us?" Drew asked.

"Well, most of us have been in tournaments or contests, so she might be a fan or something. Especially considering her title or something sounded so much like his name," Leaf added.

"So, crazy stalker fangirl? Of all of us? Still, she knows things about us such as how our minds work, that's not normal," Misty proclaimed.

"Maybe she's a psychic, like Sabrina!" Ash piped.

"Hopefully not like Sabrina. I don't want to become a doll again," Misty replied.

"How about we just do as she asks, and move on?" Leaf suggested.

"I guess we can't really do anything else," May gave in.

"Yeah," Drew and Misty agreed.

"Fine," Gary and Ash decided.

"Okay, now that we've got that cleared up, are you guys really here to help me find Kenny?" I looked around.

They all looked at me as if I just asked the most dumb question ever. In a way, I guess I had.

"No, we're just all conveniently here at the same time you're planning to search for someone who was our friend too, and we think it's creepy that some ginger nutcase knew why we're here and our minds," Gary rolled his eyes, "Jeez, it's not even like we tried to hide it."

I stood there, tidal waves of gratitude and appreciation for the friends standing in front of me, well sitting, but either way. I felt a lump in my throat.

"Gary, look what you've done this time!" Leaf scolded, seeing the tears begin to well up.

"It's fine," I sniffed, "It's just, you guys came all this way on _Christmas-_"

"As someone I know would put it, 'no need to worry,' we've got your back," Drew smirked, flicking his hair.

I smiled, holding back tears.

"So you better have ours when we need it, because one of these days, you're going to be the only one who can," Ash grinned.

"How about we all make a promise?" Misty suggested, "That we'll always be there for each other, no matter what. Even if it's just stress from a bad grade, all the way up to the worst case scenario."

We nodded, all looking around smiling. The house that once held some of my best memories had turned to bitterness and guilt, but now, it was sweet and golden, just like honey. It was warm and inviting, and even though I was about to leave, I wouldn't got without the warmth.

Home is where the heart is, and I'll be sure to carry my heart with me every step of the way, even if my goal is to give it away. No matter who has my heart, my home will never change. My friends each hold a shard of my broken heart, and one by one, they're using anything they've got, from bubble gum to string shot to duct tape to honey, to put it back together. As long as I live, my home will be with my friends, and no one can change that. No matter how much they destroy and take, my bond with those left will grow tougher. Forget gold, silver, ruby, sapphire, emerald, diamond, and pearl, our bond is platinum.

* * *

Late chapter, so very. Late. DX

Oh, and I may change the title to 'Platinum,' not sure, but maybe. I also might put up a poll for that, not sure.

So, it would be nice to hear your thoughts, which may be difficult due to me setting this back a few chapters and not being able to review twice, but you could just make one very long review or something when we get around to chapter thirty-two again. Which we will, unless I decide to split this story into two parts, like a sequel to this or something. Another poll I might make.

Thanks for your support, have a fantabulous life!

~Malon Garynite


	28. Chapter 35

Dawn's POV

"Okay, let's get down to business. Leaf and I are going to be command center, filtering all the information, gathering any useful tidbits we can find, and stringing it together while updating the rest of you," Gary began, "Ash and Misty are going through Kanto and Unova, and May and Drew will be investigating as well as participating in contests, seeing as he was a coordinator, in Johto and Sinnoh. Seeing as May's father is a gym leader and a friend of her's is Professor Birch's son, she can get info on Hoenn. Drew's aunt is pretty high up in society, so she'll be able to get info as well. That leaves you to do just about anything you want."

I blinked. How long had they planned all this? "Like what?"

He shrugged, "You could go back to school, you could stay with Kenny's family, you could follow your dream of becoming Top Coordinator, stuff like that."

"No, I want to help," I shook my head.

"It's alright, Dawn. You shouldn't stress yourself out about it, you need to take a break for a bit. We can take care of it at least until February," Leaf reassured.

"You guys don't get it, I _have_ to help," I pressed, "I can't just sit and wait."

"Then you could help one of the groups we have," Misty shrugged, "None of us would mind."

"But you guys are all set up in- never mind," I stopped myself.

"Dawn, were you about to say that we were set up in pairings based on emotions?" Gary smirked, perking an eyebrow.

Everyone was now blushing(with the exception of Ash and May due to denseness) and looking everywhere but their partners.

I laughed awkwardly, "No need to worry. I think I'm going to do some work on my own spanning a few different regions."

"Alright then, we know each other's pokegear numbers, so we'll just call if we find anything new. Meeting dismissed," Gary declared.

"Uhh, so do we just leave now?" May checked.

"He said we were dismissed, that usually includes leaving, Airhead," Drew flicked his hair, "Come on."

The two left, followed by Misty and Ash, "See ya later, Dawn!"

The last to go were Gary and Leaf, "Don't worry about it, we're going to find him. Besides, the police have their eye out as well."

I went back to my room, curled up on my bed, and tried not to cry. They were putting their lives on hold to help me find him. But not even just that, we were all his friends, they didn't just care about me, they cared about him. I took a deep breath and took out the recording from Rubia, playing it with headphones in.

_"Hey, it's Rubia. If you're hearing this, there are people in the government who have sympathy. It's my fault Kenny's gone, I feel like I have to let you hear me say it, just writing it in a note feels empty. Second off, that map is marked with all the places that there have ever been sightings of Arceus, or Mewtwo. Mewtwo is purple, Arceus is black. Before I say anything else, make sure where you are there is absolutely no chance on anyone listening in or knowing about this, Kenny's life as well as may other's may depend on it, if my theory's correct, which they are 99.7 percent of the time. Pause this while you check."_

I paused the message, then, realizing I was wearing head phones, pressed play.

_"First off, I'm in prison. Twist Mountain Prison, the tightest security one in the entire world. Lets just say I had a little disagreement with my uncle. I'll probably be out in a month or so. You need to use those plates to find Arceus. Not sure exactly why, but lets say I have a very strong feeling that the world depends on it. Wait for a signal, probably me revealing how to beat Mewtwo and or find him, which could come in a variety of ways. For instance, a girl named Aurora gave you this, right? Well, I know her cousin's best friend's niece's great aunt works for the security here, so I threw in a little sob story and an incentive to get this to you._

_"Now, you may be wondering, 'why me?' I 'll tell you why. That's how fate can work sometimes, it just uses other people and circumstances to shove you into a position where you have one major choice. I think I may have helped fate a little, I predicted its little game, and decided the outcome. Well, up to this point. Because, I'll be honest. I was scared to imagine the outcome of this. Terrified. Next time I see you, I'll explain it. Hopefully, I won't be dead before then. Well that was cheery._

_"Happy Holidays!"_ it ended.

I just sat there, listening to it a few more times.

Then I grabbed the bag I had already packed, and left for the first mark I saw.

* * *

Rubia's POV

"Would you prefer to take the glove off yourself, or should I?" N asked.

I bit my lip, taking deep breaths through my nose, "You can."

He waited for me to offer my hand for an awkward moment, before I moved it a few inches closer. He sighed, and gently held it in one hand, while gingerly peeling the now way too tight glove due to the swelling off my hand.

I shut my eyes, telling myself over and over that it was fine, and that I could trust him. It didn't do much. Finally, he spoke up, "Rubia, what is this?"

"A scar," I eventually admitted.

"But why is it a tic-tac-toe game? And what's this on your palm-"

"Don't, please, don't. I can deal with the game, but I can't do the other. Don't," I interrupted.

"When did this happen? What did you not tell us?" he pressed.

I shook my head, "No, I can't."

"You told us a myriad of horrible things a few minutes ago without having so much as a frown, what is so terrible that you can't tell us?" N asked.

"Just fix my hand, all right?" I snapped.

"I can't fix it completely, even for the most talented doctor, it would take a long time. It's at the very least broken in four places, I can see that clearly. The best we can do is wrap it, and you can't wear your gloves, they'll be too tight," he informed.

"Do whatever you have to, as long as I don't see it," I commanded.

I kept my eyes close as he guided my hand back to the bed and stood up. A few seconds later and after what sounded like the ripping of fabric, he came back and began to wrap my hand with cloth strips, which was an extremely painful process.

"Is there more on your other hand?" he broke the silence.

"Yes," I mentally cursed myself.

"Anywhere else?" he checked.

". . . Yes," I whispered.

"Where?" he asked.

"My back and bottoms of my feet," I admitted in an even softer voice.

"Has anyone else seen them?" he went deeper, finishing off the wrap.

"No one other than the people who put them there," I answered.

"Do they know about them?" he continued.

"Can you just stop asking?!" my eyes snapped open, my anger rising to the surface.

His cool gray bluish eyes locked on my burning gold ones, his face expressionless as he walked back over to his bed without a word.

After about a half an hour of silent guilt on my side, and respecting quiet on his, I spoke up, "I'm sorry. You helped me, and I was being an oversensitive jerk. I should have just told you, it's not like you're going to go around telling everyone. Just like when I was hiding the truth about who I was from you. I was wrong, I still am wrong, because old habits die hard. I guess it's a little much to ask for forgiveness, just don't lie to me, okay?"

"Why would I lie to you?" he gazed back at me.

"People just do sometimes, especially when they're c- Forget I said anything," I waved it off, "But, N?"

"Yes?" he responded.

"Do you still want to know?" I bit my lip.

He nodded, "Don't push yourself to hard, stop if you need to."

"Well, you know how I was kidnapped? I wasn't there for a week. That's just how long I was with those two, they meant to move me somewhere else, but the snow made it impossible to take me there. I suppose I was lucky that I got to be in that warehouse for a week with them, up until the second to last day. They finally were bored out of their minds, so one decided to have some fun.

"You know the little stuffed doll I had? They had saved it from the fire. They told me that they would destroy it in front of me if I struggled. I thought that my entire family was dead, and that was the last piece I had left of them, so I went along with it. They had me put my hand on the table, which was wood and metal on the edges and legs, and hold still, then they took out a knife.

"I was about to start screaming when the point touched my hand, but then they told me that they would give me my doll back if I didn't make a sound, and they would rip it apart if I screamed. So I bit my lip, screaming inside, tears flowing down my cheeks, as they began to play their game. At the beginning, the cuts weren't too deep, but still deep enough to scar, and then, when one started to lose, they started getting angry, cutting deeper and deeper. I still didn't make a noise, though desperately wanted to. Then, when one lost, he threw the knife straight down, going right between two bones of my hand, pinning it to the table. This time, I did make a noise. It was the first sound I had made in six days, and it was a soul ripping scream. The angered man threw the doll out the warehouse, into the blizzard. He started swearing, saying it was my fault he lost. They didn't take out the knife until the next day.

"That was when a new person showed up, he was a man in his late forties, and a kind face. But as one last act of anger from the former captor, he carved a message on my palm. I don't know what it is, I haven't read it yet, I haven't looked at them in eight years. But the older man was outraged at how they treated me, and had them thrown roughly out into the blizzard, which was now less violent. He then soothed me, taking care of my hand and healing it best he could. But the marks remained. He gave me a pair of gloves that were way too large for me, and cut the fingertips off. Only later did I realize that he was not as kind as he seemed. He was slowly poisoning me, weakening my will so that I would be putty in their hands. And it almost worked. But he left too soon, after two weeks, he was gone. Then she came.

"She was the stuff of nightmares, a timeless, childlike face, beautifully framed with soft platinum blond hair and she had clear blue eyes. She had a perfect figure and skin, and a voice like chimes, bright and calming. But her angelic features were paired with an obsidian heart, cold, black, hard, and made fresh from molten lava. She would smile and give off her bell like laugh as she smacked me around with her riding crop, which was made with metal studs. She would squeal in pleasure when she flayed open my back that had been burned awfully three weeks ago, and would then hold me tight and dance around with me like I was a doll, almost choking me. I was a small, six year old girl, so she easily picked me up and carried me around as if I was her living doll, yanking out hair as she tried to brush it and style it, make up smeared across my bloody face. She would tear apart my clothes and get me new fancy pairs, quickly being ruined with my blood. One day, she decided to carve into me, like the first two did. Although she did it deeper, all over my back and bits of my other hand.

"I was with her the longest. I was with her for a month. She did many other things that I just couldn't deal with, so I forced myself to forget. And then, then my uncle came," my throat began to close up and my vision blurry from tears, "But no one ever saw the burns, the scars. No one knew they existed, It was almost like I could forget completely. That's why I wore my gloves, that's why I break down at the tiniest flame, that's why I hid from you. I trusted you too much- I still trust you too much, and that's why I couldn't tell you, because I wanted to keep hiding."

I took a deep breath, a shaky one, and I felt a hand cover my good one. A tear escaped.

But no words were said, I mean, come on, what could you say?

"I-I shouldn't be crying. This h-happened a long time a-ago, so why am I c-crying?" I hiccuped.

"Sometimes it's hard to face the past, what made us who we are. Especially if you're not who you'd like to be. But no matter who we are, we have to face it to be able to conquer or change anything. People cry, not because they're weak. It's because they've been strong for too long," he affirmed.

"Hiding i-isn't strong, it's something a c-coward does. Someone who can't be brave for other people can't help anyone, and to b-be brave for others, first you have to be brave for yourself," I wiped my eyes furiously.

"I'm not going to argue with you," N began to stand up, but I grabbed him in a hug.

"Please don't ever mention that this happened," I requested, blinking tears out of my eyes as I held him close.

"Your past, or, uhh, this," he asked.

I smiled a little, noticing his slight discomfort, "Yes. Now do me a favor and don't let go for a little longer."

"But I'm not-"

"Then fix it," I laughed a little while he awkwardly returned the hug. You'd think this was his first hug. Wait, it was his first hug, I would know.

If only I could be brave for myself. . .

* * *

THIS WAS WAY TOO LATE. I AM A HORRIBLE PERSON.

So, RareFroslass, the bridging of the river. . . Like the end? I imagine you would.

:D

Reviews are always wonderful, and so are my readers!


	29. Chapter 29

Wolf's POV

Now, I'm not one for gossip, but I do quite enjoy eavesdropping. Which is what I was currently doing. After all, who could miss out on Maple having a two sided conversation with Johnny? Or whatever the heck his name was. But that's irrelevant, I only need a face, any more, and I might feel bad for the kid. Same rule I kept to before I got shipped to this dump. The point is, Maple was having a lengthy conversation, and she was doing at least half of the talking, and if you didn't notice, she doesn't talk much. Well, unless you're me.

"Do you think there's a chance it's true?" the man whispered.

She bit her lip, "I'm not sure yet. My analysis of the situation isn't complete."

"Yeah, I wouldn't expect it to, but is there a chance?" he urged.

"I don't want to let you down," I snorted at that remark, Maple doesn't give a crap how high or low one is.

He sighed, "Come on, please?"

Her jaw tightened, "It's impossible. There's no such thing as telling the future, and there's no redemption for people like us."

"But-" he began to protest.

"Nothing. I don't care how innocent you are, or how you never did anything, there's no fact behind what you're saying. It's. Impossible," she grit her teeth.

The man looked distraught, turning away and walking back to wherever he came from. I slipped out of my hiding place, "So, what's the word?"

She looked at me shyly, feigning complete innocence, "You know how guys can be."

"Hmm, looking at him I would have guessed he knew you better than that," I shrugged.

"Exactly the problem. I know you were listening," she remarked, her innocent facade melting away as we walked into a more private area.

"So, what does he want a chance of?" I asked, casually leaning against one of the prison walls.

"He's one of those that say they don't remember committing the crimes, or that they were being forced to in a way they couldn't fight back, like possession," she explained, her voice going to it's natural Scottish accent and to its normal low tone.

"Idiots," I snorted, "What's this about telling the future?"

She pulled out her voice recorder, "It's just something one of the psychics from Team Dusk said. Something about redemption for the unwillingly forced and the old king joining with the girl that shouldn't. I have it all on here."

She tossed it and I caught it, "You would record everything someone from that area says."

She closed her eyes and let out a deep breath, "How could I not?"

I pushed off the wall, "We should get back to Alph."

"You know that when they foretold it they were actually sending a signal for the Few, right?" she checked, switching back to her higher American voice.

"Figured it was something like that. I wonder if those two are part of them or just a strange coincidence. Seriously, he used to be a king, and the girl. . ." I trailed off.

Maple nodded, "I see it too. In her eyes. You know I'm not the feely type of knowing by looking deep into their eyes. I have actual reason."

"What's that?" I mused, a smile dancing on the edges of my lips.

"I've heard about her cousin, and those eyes are the same. I'm not talking about color," she responded in a more hushed voice.

"What's wrong with her cousin?" I asked, puzzled.

She shook her head, "She has quite a few cousins, but the one I'm talking about is the one to be scared of. There's no way someone like that can exist."

"How do you know about her?" I questioned.

She grinned a tiny bit, "Team Dusk is scared of the girl's cousin and her friends. Very."

"How many?"

"Four children, and the cousin can't really be what they say," she pushed, trying to hammer the point home that there was something seriously wrong with that child.

"Well, what do they say?" I finally snapped.

"They call her friends the Brilliance, the Psychic, and the Brother. They call the last one the Friend of Ghosts," she added.

"Not ghost types," I guessed.

"Both. And if you do the wrong things, let's just say you might be the newest addition to her title."

* * *

Serena's POV

I am a really awful friend. That's what my motto had been these past two weeks. It had been a week since we asked Dawn about her, ten days since she had disappeared, and two weeks since my outburst.

I couldn't help but feel it was my fault that Rubia was gone. No matter how I looked at it, it was my fault. Calem of course had told me it wasn't a thousand times. He had compared it to unstoppable force meets immovable object. But which was which was a secret to everyone. I compared it to stabbing the person who took you in when you needed it most in the back in an embrace.

Very different views.

I sighed, and now the likely hood of us ever seeing her again is pretty low, seeing as she's either in a witness protection program, or somehow prison.

"Yo! Serena!" Tireno called from outside of my house, "We're goin' ice skatin', wanna come?"

I sat up from my bed and called out my window, "I'll be down in a few!"

I guess I'll just have to move on. We all make mistakes sometimes, and this will form me to be a better person later on, right? It's not the end of the world, I still have my other friends.

I couldn't do anything about this, I'm just a fourteen year old girl. I don't have any say about anything. She'd be okay with this, right?

* * *

Dawn's POV

It had been a week now, and no one had found anything. I had checked two of the x's, and I guess you could say I was feeling discouraged.

"Anything I can do?" I jumped. It was the girl who just showed up my house a week ago.

"I don't think so, we just need to check all these x's," I explained.

She caught up with my pace, leaning over to see the maps, her red orange wavy/curly locks spilling onto it. She picked up her hair and threw it over her shoulder, "I can check all of these places. Well, not me, but my. . . Friends. They'd be happy to," she pointed at five of the x's.

My eyes widened, "Really? How soon?"

"Within three days, no travel for you necessary," she looked up, smiling brightly, which was offset by her tired eyes with very visible dark circles underneath.

"Are you sure? I mean, you don't know me at all. . ." I trailed off.

She smiled wider, the tiredness gone from her eyes like it was an illusion, but the circles still there, "I don't have anything better to be doing with my life, after all."

"Thank you so much! I'm sorry, but I forgot your name," I thanked, feeling a little embarrassed.

"Just call me Malon. I know I said Leyenda earlier, but I literally made that up on the spot. I don't really know why I did, so don't ask," she held out a hand to shake.

I took it with a grin, "Thanks again!"

"No problem!" she replied.

"Why are you doing this?" I hesitated before asking.

"Someone asked me to do a favor for them, and you happen to be that favor," she shrugged.

"Huh?" I blinked.

"It doesn't matter," she shook her head, "I'll meet you at the Pokemon Center in at most an hour."

"Bye!" I waved as she skipped off.

That girl was really. . . Interesting.

* * *

Rubia's POV

It had now been ten days of prison life, and one week since I told N about the rest of my past. Well, that bit of it.

We had to decided to join Wolf's group that now consisted of us, Alph, Wolf, and Maple, but keeping low about it. It turns out at least a quarter of all the prisoners recognized N, for some reason they knew about him for reasons other than Team Plasma.

N and I had become decently close I suppose, you know, with sharing a cell and all. I mean, we were already a little close before we did. There hadn't been anything like what happened a week ago, just as normal as it could get. No hugs, no breakdowns, no large fights, just conversation.

And I was planning on breaking out very soon. I had to, I couldn't just stay here, could I? Not with Mewtwo running loose. But a small part of me wanted to stay. I was safe here, more or less, and I had no pressure of hiding, being, or doing anything. It was comfortable enough, and the absolute worse case scenario is that I was forced into a pleasant interaction with Ghetsis, which is never going to happen. I could just disappear here, and it's not like anyone in the outside world remembers or cares. It was pretty much the same as living normally, except the fact I couldn't leave this fortress. I'm not that damsel in distress, locked away in her tower. Not in the slightest. I'm the Queen who makes the most of her life in her fortress, not dramatizing anything. The one who has already seen the outside world's beauty and terror, who was married into royalty, so to speak.

Not like that! I'm not saying I want to be married into this sort of thing!

And I am certainly _not _ implying anything by using a Queen married into royalty while being in a cell with a former King!

I'm not in denial either, if that's what you're thinking.

So don't even think about it.

On a different note, right now we were in our cell, right after our break in the prison yard. We're both relaxing on our beds a bit, me wishing each cell had a personal bathroom instead of having to share one with all the other women in the jail. Well, at least the other thirty plus in this wing.

I took out my iPod(they had let me keep it. Turns out this place has great wi-fi if you can find out the pass code) and scrolled through the songs. Some of were downloaded on here by my old partner, a variety of soundtracks and Japanese rock bands due to my cousin, and new music from popular bands from my other cousin. Then there were my songs that I listened to whenever I studied, or the one downloaded with a note saying, 'Listen to while reading chapter 10, makes the feels overwhelming,' whatever that means. Probably another one from my cousin. I plugged in ear buds and started listening through the songs I'd never heard.

Listening to the melodies and harmonies, I began to drift to sleep. Especially as this one really slow and beautiful soundtrack started playing.

In minutes, I was sleeping like a rock.

* * *

I'm really sorry to cut this off awkwardly, but it's late, so I figured it's better than nothing, right?

That-girl-from-outer-space6, I'm hoping to fit in more of it, so I hope you enjoy! Lots of hoping going on. XD

Have an amazing month, my glorious readers!

~Malon Garynite


	30. Chapter 30

Rubia's POV

When I woke up, I panicked. Very calmly, but none the less, panicked. I jolted upright, feeling something was missing.

More accurately, someone.

I threw off a cover that I never put over myself, guessing that someone tucked me in while I was asleep. My face feeling a little hotter, I scanned the room.

I was right. N was nowhere to be found.

I forced myself to relax, he was probably just using the restroom. I checked my iPod fr the time, looked like I had only slept an hour or so.

Another hour passed.

Still not here.

I slammed my fist on the door and yelled to the guards, "Where the heck is N?!"

No reply.

I grit my teeth and forced my door open. He better be alright.

The hall was strangely empty and silent, the lights even seemed dimmer.

I looked up and down the hall, confused. Seeing as nobody was there, I walked to one end of the hallway turning sharply to see a crumpled figure. A bleeding crumpled figure. And a woman holding a knife.

My breath hitched in my throat.

That woman was my mother, and that crumpled figure was - you guessed it - N.

I felt cold distress seep through my skin and hot fury prick my mind.

My mother, the psychopath, looked up with a shining smile at me, shattering ever bit of what I was.

I wanted to crumble away like the husk I was because this could only mean one thing.

My mom was evil, she was a murderer, and they pretended to kill her. But now she was one of them, or had been for a while.

What was she doing here? Why was there no malice or guilt in her eyes? They were just happy, the calm relieving kind, and the smile was real, filling me with warmth. No, not warmth like I'd get from when my friends, when N smiled at me. Searing, mutilating despair and agony, kindled by rage and sorrow.

And I wasn't sure if I could stand it much longer.

My mouth was like sandpaper, and my body like lead, I just wanted to crumple with all this weight going down with me. I just wanted to lay there forever.

I don't care what happens to me, I just can't take it anymore. I felt a tear splash on my curled fist, my nails leaving cuts in my palm. I looked at them and noticed I was trembling. Not only that, but I was sobbing.

"Rubia, are you alright?" I vaguely heard, unsure of what it was, "Rubia, wake up!"

* * *

My eyes snapped open to see blue gray softening with relief hovering over mine. I gulped in a few breaths, registering who those eyes belonged to.

"Are you doing okay?" N asked, leaning away.

I felt the tears drying on my face and I choked out the words, "You're . . . Alive?"

He looked slightly confused, "Is that what that was about? Well, I am alive, yes. Thanks for asking."

I felt my face heat up, "I'm fine." I sat up and leaned against the wall my bed was by, drawing my knees toward my chest.

He raised an eyebrow, "Really? You're shaking."

"Just. . . Cold, that's all," I buried my head in my arms, "You can go back to whatever you were doing."

I felt a blanket being placed around me, "I was trying to help you get out of that nightmare. You were sobbing and screaming, you know."

I felt my face heat up even more, "Great. And what were you doing before that? Tucking me in?" Okay, that came out a lot more harsh than I wanted it to, and I'd really rather not know the answer.

"I can't tell if that was sarcastic or not," he sat down next to me, "But I can tell that you're not happy."

"How could you tell?" I continued being cold.

He sighed, "I can't tell if you're mad with me because of something I did, or something else. Either way, I would like to fix it."

I snorted, "Good luck."

"I'll take that as an invitation," N proposed.

"Well, I'll try to make it a challenge then," I grumbled.

"I take it it's something I said or did then," he guessed.

"Maybe, maybe not," I replied.

"Can you tell me what it is that's upsetting you?" he asked.

"Do I look like I want to talk about it?" I muttered.

"I know I was dead, in the dream that is, but I don't think you would be thrashing and having an emotional meltdown if I had simply died. Discomfort, definitely. Being reduced to a sobbing mess? I don't think even if that would be your reaction in the dream that it would be so apparent in reality. How did I die?" he thought out loud, "You can give some input on that, if you like."

"Does it really matter?! You're alive right now, and that's what counts!" I snapped my head up, uncurling from my ball, "So what if I broke down because you died?! That just shows that I care!"

He looked slightly alarmed, "White-"

"Rubia," I hissed.

"Right, Rubia, I know that there's more to it. If you would just tell me instead of curling into a ball and ignoring me while I try to help you-"

"By simply telling me that you are in fact alive and I fell apart?! We really need to work on your people skills!" I blurted.

He cocked an eyebrow, "We need to work on my people skills?"

"Yes! That's what I just said- oh. I said-"

"Care to explain?" He looked calmly at me seemingly slightly amused.

I pushed his shoulder, "Shut up, you know what I mean."

He smirked, "Yes, you always say precisely what you mean. Now, about how I died, I really am quite curious."

I had the face of a magikarp for a few seconds before I recovered, "Fine. I'll tell you."

He looked truly surprised. You could tell by his slightly wider eyes.

"Under one condition: What happens in this cell, stays in this cell. That goes for everything up till now, got it?" I demanded.

"Yes ma'am," he replied.

I told him everything about my dream, and ended up breaking down when I tried to mention my mom.

Luckily, N was improving on his people skills. Well, at they very least, his 'Rubia' skills. He now knew that when I was like this, I just need someone to be there, so I could feel that they were still there, that they wouldn't disappear. So he held me for a while, and honestly, I was scolding myself for getting so comfortable with things like this.

While we were still in our embrace(which I really was over it by now, it was just really comfortable to stay like that with him, so I wasn't going to stop it), I heard a solid thunk from. . . Inside the wall?

"Ouch, I hit my head!" someone with a familiar voice whined.

"Well, if you hadn't kicked my knee, I wouldn't have tripped you!" another one, this time a girl, scolded.

"Be quiet! What if someone hears us?" yet another voice reminded.

"They won't be able to get to us, we're safe!" the first cheerfully piped.

These voices were so familiar, but I just couldn't place a face.

"Yes, Cole, but we don't know how to get out! If someone had gone with my plan, this wouldn't happen!" the second person argued. Wait, Cole?

"How is it my fault?! Ooo! What does this do! I wanna poke it!"

"Don't- What did you just do?!"

The wall dropped down to reveal three people I thought I'd never see again.

The first voice was a boy about my age who was making a miserable attempt at wearing a ninja costume, which was only half on, who had brown hair, a tan, and green eyes. Cole Escapade, my old partner from the agency.

The second voice was Skylar, my cousin. She was a small girl who had brown hair as well, but her eyes were blue or gray depending on what she wore.

The third voice was someone I didn't recognize, a blond with short hair who was about Cole's height with rectangular wire rim glasses.

"Are we interrupting?" Skylar eyed our position. I was not a very huggy person.

"Well, don't you two look close?" the mystery girl smiled.

Kill me now before Cole says anything. Said boy gagged and coughed up. . . a skittle?

"Cole, is that my skittle?" Skylar asked, a menacing edge to her tone.

"This is certainly not your skittle from last week you were saving for later and specifically told me not to eat," he replied.

Her eye twitched.

I cautiously moved away to a respectable distance from N, "N, these are my. . . Friends. The boy's Cole, the girl whose skittle was just hacked up is Skylar, and the blond is. . ?"

"That's right, we haven't met. I'm Mia, Cole's girlfriend," she smiled holding out my hand to shake.

My mind imploded. _What did she just say?! _I must have had a pretty great facial expression, because she laughed as I gaped at her.

"Cole was in a relationship before me?! How did this happen?!" I demanded, "I was only gone for two years!"

"Yeah, that's what I said and I never left in the first place," Skylar grumbled.

I finally got around to shaking Mia's hand, utterly mystified, "When did you two even meet?"

"About a year or so ago, while we were on our journey," Cole answered.

"You went on a journey?" I asked.

"With Malon," he added.

"_What?"_

"So, we should probably bust you out of here before the guards catch on," Mia noted.

"What about our pokemon?" I asked.

She tossed me my pokeballs, "Already took care of it."

"N, are you coming or not?" I stood up, seeing that he looked nowhere near getting up.

He didn't meet my eyes, "Rubia, I have to stay."

I blinked, "No you don't, you can come with us."

"This is where I should be, it's better for everyone. Go," he remained looking at his shoes.

"No. You don't have to stay, you have a choice, you always have a choice," I pushed.

"I'm not coming, Rubia," he whispered.

"Give me five good reasons why," I challenged.

"It's dangerous, they'll find us, it's even more likely they will if I was with you, if they found out I was gone, they'd blame you, if we behave we might get let out, and you will be killed in my place if they find us," his voice became steely.

I crossed my arms, "Well, I'm not leaving without you."

"This will be your only chance, you are leaving," he looked up, the determination in his eyes startling me.

"Great, so you are too," I retorted.

"Give me five reasons why," he copied.

"If you don't, I'll never see you again, you're the only person who knows what's behind the whole gloves thing, I'm kinda only here because of you, you're one of the only people who can change my mind, and I want you to," I stumbled over the last bit, "Unless you go, I'm staying."

"You can't stay," he refused.

"Why not?" I asked.

"Because, Rubia, this may be your only chance," he hissed, clearly tired of ts argument.

"Then you're coming," I pushed, "You really want to stay that bad?"

"Why do you care so much about whether I stay here or not?" he sighed.

"Because I care about you! Why are you being so stubborn?!" I exclaimed.

"Because this is your only chance to be free, Rubianna," he replied.

"Aww!" Cole squealed, "They care so much for each other! It's so sweet!" I glared at him, "Oh my gosh! You two aren't dating yet!" If only looks could kill, "We need to get them together, guys!"

"We have to leave _now_, we only have a few minutes," Mia informed, smiling a little at Cole's outburst.

"Come on, let's go," I grabbed N's ear and began to drag him along as we entered the opening in the wall, refusing to release him until the closed the entry.

"So, Skylar, which way is out?" Cole asked.

"That was your job, remember?" she groaned.

Mia sighed, "It's this way, follow me."

* * *

Dawn's POV

"The black x's are supposed to represent Arceus, right?" Malon checked when we met back up at the pokemon center.

I blinked, "Yeah, how did you know?"

"Because one of my friends found him," she grinned.

I bolted up, "Really?! Where?!"

"Here," she pointed, "You need a ride?"

I gave her a quick hug, "Thank you so much!"

"No problem! We'll ride on my dragonite, it's the fastest way to get there," she called it out of it's pokeball, "You know where to go, Levy!"

We hopped on and began flying closer and closer to getting Kenny back.

* * *

Rubia's POV

Once we got on the roof, we started facing some problems. Like security guards.

Luckily, there were only two, and they seemed to think that there was no reason to raise the alarm. They just don't make guards like they used to.

But they were coming towards us with pokeballs ready for action. I was the only person who seemed to have noticed this so far, seeing as Skylar and Cole were debating over something. I started being able to catch some of their commands. They had decided to take out Mia first, if I was right. The lanky one with a huge under bite let out a growlithe that had began charging what I think was a crunch attack, and I had about five seconds to make a decision.

My decision was to tackle it.

When my shoulder made contact with the creature, I felt a burst of pain and a sickening pop in my shoulder. Probably dislocated.

Sadly, that didn't change it's mind. It was determined to sink its teeth into something, and I would do just fine. I let out a small scream as I felt its teeth sink through the flesh in my leg, the pain making everything pulse and seem hazy. My vision went black.

* * *

I woke up on top of a sleeping bags, some one dabbing at my leg with some sort of damp clothe. I winced.

"Wha?" I mumbled groggily, painfully sitting up, a hand to my head.

"We didn't have any time up on the roof, so we had to grab you and run. Does your shoulder feel any better now that it's back in place?" N asked, finishing up cleaning the leg that was torn into.

"I wasn't conscious long enough to know, but it's still sore," I cringed as he started wrapping my leg with gauze.

"Sorry," he apologized, finishing it up.

"Why are you apologizing?" I flinched.

He opened his mouth to speak, but Skylar called over him, "Food, peoples!"

"Let me help you," he offered.

"No, I'm fine," I started scooting over painfully, very painfully, towards the food.

"N, don't let Rubia kill herself," Cole advised.

He looked worriedly down at me while I grimaced, continuing to shuffle towards the food.

"Can you please just let me-"

"No! I can get there on my own! I can handle myself, you know, with going into hiding for two years!" I snapped, immediately feeling bad, but keeping up an annoyed look.

He drew his arm he had been offering back to his side and walked over, getting food, then bringing it back to me. I glared at him while Skylar tried not to giggle, Cole looking like he was trying to say 'not my problem now' and Mia raising an eyebrow.

He walked back, getting his own food and sitting at the edge of camp on his own. They all looked at me. I looked down at the soup for a moment before pushing it away.

"Rubia, you need to eat," Mia reminded.

I ignored her, curling up on the ground to fall asleep.

* * *

When I woke up, meteors were blazing across the sky, two or three at a time, gliding over the navy expanse. I was halfway between petrified and awestruck, freezing half sitting.

"Beautiful, isn't it?" I turned to see Mia, "Are you feeling better?"

"Maybe if I didn't have a fear of fire," I grumbled stiffly.

"You know what I meant, Rubia," she replied.

"Well, I still feel like crap for saying that to N, and I still feel guilty about what got me here," I sighed.

She stretched, "What got you here?"

I leaned my head back, "You see, I had a friend back at the school N and I were in, and she had some problems with her heart. Romance, not health, to be clear. She wasn't sure if she had a crush on her best friend or not and it was tearing them apart. They had kissed, he had confessed, she kissed another one of her close friends, and now she just didn't know what to do. So, in exchange, I used my sixth pokemon to help her make sense of her feelings. I had Mewtwo help her. Later that day, the friend she was actually in love with, fell into a coma before she could tell him.

"He hadn't woke up a while later, and two of her friends were at risk of being killed, so I told her that I would use Mewtwo to heal him so that she could go ahead. How wrong I was, I thought I could trust Mewtwo, if not control it, but as soon as I gave the command, all of the electricity went dead. Do you have any idea how many people's lives relied on those machines? It mad the generators malfunction, locked the doors, but worst of all, the boy woke up.

"His eyes were glowing purple, and he was limp, like a puppet. Mewtwo was his master. A screen flickered on and I saw that that was the case in every room. It was warning me. It was threatening me, showing the results of when I try to fix everyone's lives for them. I tried to fight it, but my pokeballs were broken. It almost killed me, but let me go, thinking I was more fragile than I really was. But it seared the image of someone I lost a long time ago into my mind, simply saying, 'Every last one, dropping like flies.' I woke up in a police station, no news on what happened."

"What are you going to do? You clearly do not plan on waiting here," she asked. It was almost a challenge the way she said it.

"I'm going to fix what I caused. Not just Mewtwo, everything. I've left so much in ruins, I want to rebuild them all. But for now, I'm going to fix Mewtwo. And while I'm at it, I may as well make a wish on all these shooting stars," I resolved.

She smiled, "Sweet dreams, I'll see you in the morning."

But even after she left, I still felt someone. But the one was cold, almost not there, it wasn't human. I waved it off as one of my cousin's lookouts and went back to sleep.

* * *

I AM SO FREAKING SORRY.

LATE.

I was super, super, super busy, but now I have a short break, so I hope to have then next chapter up within a week.

Thanks for reading!

~Malon Garynite


	31. Chapter 31

Rubia's POV

I woke up from another nightmare. They just kept getting worse, and worse, and I can't stop crying this time, and everyone is awake.

Calm down, Rubia, get it together.

Nope, that's not gonna work.

I felt a hand on my shoulder, "You too?"

I recognized Skylar's voice, "I c-can't get rid o-of them!" I whispered, hiccuping.

"Let's get some fresh air," she awkwardly offered, half helping me up. After a few steps, I fell from the pain again. She kept helping me up until we were sitting by a cliff that dropped six stories into a rapid river. I slowly calmed down.

"Wait, you had nightmares too?" I asked weakly.

She nodded slightly, her eyes turning a darker gray, "I woke up to Mia and Cole crying together after one of mine, I think we're all a little stressed out."

"What about N?" I checked.

She gave me a sharpedo smile, "I think he was taking watch, but I did hear your old code name a few times."

I shoved her to the side(not off the cliff) lightly, "Oh, shut up."

"So, why do you let me help and not him? I figured that it would be an - an-"

"Opportune moment?" I supplied.

She pointed dramatically, "Exactly! So you did think about it that way!"

"No I didn't!"

"You're blushing!"

"From anger!"

"Seriously though, why?" she repeated.

I sighed, "It's just. . . I don't want to look weak."

"Rubia-"

"I don't want to _feel _weak. I don't want him to be worried, and I know you can handle it, but he's already lost so much. He probably doesn't know how to care or trust anymore. I'm afraid that Ghetsis really did break him. I want to be strong for him, I want him to trust me. But I can't rely on him. People don't last forever," I finished meekly, "But here you are, being strong for me, me totally relying on you without a problem. Go fi-" the ground shook.

"You felt that too, right?" Skylar checked.

I nodded and it shook again, longer and more harshly this time, "What's going on?"

This time, it was shockingly violent.

"Rubia, the ground is splitting!" she started moving away from the edge, but I couldn't understand what she had said.

"WHAT?!" I called over the noise.

She was now a decent distance away, "THE FLIPPING GROUND IS SPLITTING! WATCH OUT!"

I heard her, but it was too late. The ground gave way and I was tumbling through the air.

The river. I can't swim.

I never got to tell him.

Not here. Not no-

* * *

Dawn's POV

I woke up, gasping.

"Dawn, are you alright?" Malon whispered, sounding calm and fully awake.

"We have to go. Right now. I know where to find him," I answered in a rush, grabbing my bag.

It was hard to explain. I just got this weird dream and I knew where to go. Just before I went to sleep, I had befriended Arceus.

I know, right? Still can't get over it, I mean, Arceus!

I called Leaf, "Silph Co. building in Kanto, that's where he is, tell the others."

"Got it," she replied with excitement in her voice. I walked out the front door.

"Wait up! Let me fly you there!" Malon ran after me, calling out her dragonite, "You're not leaving me behind!"

* * *

N's POV

"No. No," Skylar repeated again, "They can't take Rubia from us," she choked a bit, "And then make Cole and Mia vanish into thin air!"

She was gone. White was gone.

And I couldn't do anything.

"I'm so sorry," her voice started to fracture, "I couldn't help her."

Like that did anything. Being sorry is useless.

It's strange. My dream, it showed where to find the person she wanted to save. But now she can't do it.

Should I do something? Should I help them?

Why? I don't know them. They don't know me.

But that's what she wanted. So I'll do it.

"N? What are we going to do?" she asked.

"Do what she wanted. We're going to go help one of her friends."

* * *

? POV

Somehow, everyone managed to get to the Silph Co. Building at the same time. Which was actually two weeks after they knew where to go because for one, they wanted to be prepared. This was freaking Mewtwo. Two, bad weather. They were flying, and it takes up enough energy as it is, but with weather it took three times as much energy. Three, they had to go through security. News of the escaped convicts had gotten out, so they need to be sure.

I personally think that they should have gotten a little more prepared, but that's not fair considering I know what's going to happen next. Spoilers.

Skylar and N had the fabulously awkward position of knowing nobody, so that was lots of fun(Drew, Gary, and Leaf were overly suspicious). Malon had vanished when Dawn and her stopped in Lavender town. N also had the job of explaining to everyone why Rubia wasn't there.

After learning that, Dawn went into shock. They took another day off so that she'd be able to face what would be in that building.

Skylar tried calling Cole and Mia's phones, which surprisingly they replied to. But. . . They were absolutely insane, completely shattered mentally by the sound of it. They seemed to believe they were in an alternate dimension of nightmares. She was getting suspicious of a certain legendary being responsible, and that's when she called Malon. Malon didn't pick up.

Look on the bright side here, at least they're not offering themselves up to be puppets.

That came out worse than I meant it to.

Bright side. . . I'll tell you when I've found one.

* * *

Nobody's POV

Cole Escapade had never been more confused in his life. One minute, he's in this warped world which exploits his greatest fears, the next in an empty security room with his girlfriend. Oh, and in one room there's this one crazy person tearing it up with her hands, nails, feet, and teeth. It was amazing whoever it was hadn't destroyed the camera. In another there's a bunch of maybe dead bodies and Mewtwo.

The confusion is real.

Mia was also pretty astonished, but she's a lot better at hiding it.

Suddenly, all of the screens went to international news.

"Cole, you need to see this."

* * *

? POV

When they first walked into the building, the TV screen behind the empty receptionist's desk was on international news, the banner at he bottom screen saying, 'TEENAGE GIRL'S BODY FOUND IN UNOVA'S WATER PURIFICATION CENTER,'.

"How did the girl get in there?" the interviewer, a girl with maroon hair asked.

"Well, we think she got in the river which we get our water from somehow, even though that area is off limits to civilians. We have some evidence that she was a trainer, but it's not confirmed," a business man answered, "We so far have no identity of her, please call in if you have any idea who she is."

A picture of a soaking corpse popped up, filling the screen. They froze in horror.

It was Rubia.

Her skin was almost a periwinkle color, still floating in the water, her hair extending from her like a creature forcing it's way out of her skull. Her eyes were wide open and glassy, her mouth open in a scream that would never escape.

Dawn got choked up. There was no way. She knew she was gone, but she has this weird way of tricking people. She was hoping. . .

"Now, she also matches the description of the escaped convict from Twist Mt. Prison, do you find this to be a-"

The screen shut off.

Skylar held the TV plug in her hand, having yanked it from the wall.

You have to give it to them, for teenagers they're pretty strong. But they would have felt stronger if they had just watched the whole thing

* * *

While our band of heroes in the lobby turned off the broadcast, Cole and Mia had no way to.

"Now, you said you have the body of this girl with you to drop it off for an autopsy. Why?" the reporter quizzed.

"We have observed some strange things that lead us to believe that this girl is victim of possession. Her eyes, they flash red and pale blue, she sometimes has this dark aura surrounding her, only to be blasted away by light. Her skin changes. This could be a major breakthrough," he remarked.

"How are we to believe that this isn't some kind of hoax?" the reporter skeptically checked.

He chuckled, "I brought her here with me."

"Those sick *insert insult of your choice*!" Cole exclaimed.

"Cole!" Mia glared.

"What?! They're freaking treating her-"

"Where is she?! Where's the bloody corpse?!" the man bellowed, "She can't be gone, she's dead!"

"Looks like this just got more interesting folks, we'll be back after the commercial break," she smiled before the screens went back to surveillance.

"There's no way," Cole angrily mumbled.

Mia smiled. Apparently there was.

* * *

Serena's hand was shaking almost to the point of her dropping her phone. The number from the news station was typed in, all she had to do was press the call button. But something was stopping her.

"Serena?" Shauna called, "Serena, come down from your room! Calem has something for you!"

She shut it. I guess she wanted to come to terms with her death before she called in with information.

She hopped down the stairs, and her jaw almost hit the floor when she saw what her boyfriend was holding in his arms.

"But, how?!" she demanded.

He smiled, "A little help from teleportation from my espurr, and it was easy."

"Why did you steal a-"

"It's not. Feel," he put his load on the table.

She put her hand against it and tears pricked her eyes.

"We always joked about how you'd come back from the grave if someone needed you," she whispered, smiling sadly, the constellation of tears on her lashes growing by the second. She felt arms wrap around her, "Thank you."

* * *

Oh look, a hopeful ending. I thought about adding the next part, but happiness is valuable. Very precious indeed.

Rubia's dead, if you guys didn't pick up on that.

*evil chortle* You guys don't even know what's coming. Not even you, Rare.

Guess who, I'm glad you love the story so far! I wish you the best of luck with stuff! :D

Have a fashionaablah life!


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